The Gawaro Chronicles
by starspejd
Summary: As Casey, Mia and Tyson finally reach the other side of the Goma Passage, the Gym Leaders of Gawaro are attending a meeting with a member of the Elite Four.
1. The Journey Begins

**Welcome everyone. It's good to be back after a few years of hiatus.**

**To celebrate my comeback, I'll be uploading a new chapter of this story everyday this week (Mon-Fri), for a grand total of five chapters on its launch week.  
**

**A big thanks goes out to Tyhe2476, not only for beta reading chapter 1-4, but also for indirectly making me want to write my own (well, him and 500+ worth of Pokémon episodes watched while working over a few months).**

**But I've kept you long enough. I invite you all into the world of Pokémon...**

* * *

Welcome, to the world of Pokémon. In this world, creatures known as Pokémon live alongside humans and there are currently more than 650 known species. Pokémon comes in all shapes and sizes, forms and types and no two are alike. In this world, there are those humans which share a special bond with Pokémon. Some of them dream of capturing as many different kinds as they can and to become Pokémon Masters. These people are called Trainers. Others find that grooming and raising Pokémon are more to their liking and become excellent Breeders. Others still, dream of stardom and dazzling performances and are known as Coordinators. Though their paths and goals may differ, their love for their partners and friends are the same, and each have their own tale to tell. This story takes it beginning in Nesot Village, one fateful morning...

**Chapter 1 – The Journey Begins  
**

_Wednesday the 7th of Silversun_

_06:30, Nesot Village_

Dawn had barely broken, as the first few rays of light crept across Casey's bed. They slowly made their way over his covers until they shone upon the youth's face. His eyes slowly opened, only to be squeezed tight again by the blinding light. Casey muttered to himself as he sat up in bed. He slowly opened his eyes again and looked over his room. It was a complete mess. His closet had been torn open and half his clothes were lying on the floor; several drawers in his desk looked as if they were about to become unhinged and the floor was covered in books, maps, papers and much more. In fact, the only thing undisturbed in the room seemed to be the shelf with Pokémon Dolls he had had ever since he was a babe. He kept telling himself to call them stuffed Pokémon instead, but to no avail; it was, and would always be, dolls.

For a brief moment he wondered why his room was a mess, until he remembered what day it was. It was the day that he and Tyson were going on their Pokémon journey. That was also why his room was a mess – Tyson had "helped" him pack. Sadly, Tyson's idea of packing was tearing everything out of the closets and drawers and throwing it into a backpack. Even after Tyson had left, Casey had to sit and re-do everything. By the time he was done packing he had been too exhausted to clean up and had fallen asleep.

He looked at his clock on the wall. There was still another half hour until he had to get up. Casey lay down again, but found himself restless. After a few minutes he sighed, got out of bed and got dressed. His clothes had been laid out the night before; a pair of brown jeans, a blue T-shirt and a green jacket. As he got dressed, he looked himself over in the mirror. He wasn't vain in anyway, but he couldn't help looking at the youth staring back in the mirror. His brown hair was starting to grow out again, even though he had had it cut only a few weeks ago. The blue eyes in the mirror were filled with apprehension. _Guess the eyes really are the windows to the soul_ Casey thought to himself. He was slightly taller than average, but only just. He was athletic of build, though he had never done much to make his body that way. _Stop lingering_ he told himself and shied away from the mirror.

He found his bag by the end of his bed and looked through it to make sure he had it all: A map, compass, sleeping bag, some canned food for both humans and Pokémon as well as an assortment of medicines and other items of use. He looked around his room again, then up at the clock. He still had a quarter of an hour before his family would get up. Figuring he had nothing better to do, the boy started cleaning his room.

It took longer than he had thought it would. By the time he was done cleaning and tidying his room, his family was up and about and the sweet smell of bacon and eggs reached his room. He grabbed his bag and went to the door. He turned and cast a last glance at his room; he probably wouldn't be back for quite a while. Saying his silent farewell, he closed the door and walked down the stairs to join his mother and father for breakfast.

* * *

_Wednesday the 7th of Silversun_

_08:23, Nesot Village_

Breakfast had been a mixed experience. On one hand, Casey could sense that his parents were happy for him going on his journey. But on the other hand, it would leave them alone in the village. After breakfast they had offered to see him off to the professor, but he had declined, preferring to say his goodbyes then and there. It hadn't been easy on any of them and somewhere in his heart, Casey was already regretting going; if only just a little.

"Hey, Casey" a voice called from ahead. Casey looked up and saw his friend and future travelling companion Tyson further up the road. He was wearing a dark pair of pants and a red jacket, the whole thing topped off by his fiery red hair. He too was wearing a rucksack stuffed to the brim with stuff they needed on their journey. Much like Tyson had helped Casey yesterday, Casey had been at Tyson's the day before yesterday to help him pack. Tyson was of a stronger build than Casey, wherefore they had agreed that Tyson would carry some of their heavier stuff. He was also taller than Casey. The pair had been friends since childhood and Casey had often relied on Tyson's strength when they sat out to do another of their crazy ideas. It struck him suddenly, that not a lot had changed since then, after all, going on a Pokémon journey like this was pretty crazy. Tyson gave an energetic wave and Casey waved back, picking up his pace a little.

"Excited?" Tyson asked as Casey reached him and they continued through the western outskirts of the village, towards the Professors laboratory. The laboratory itself was situated a little west of the village, so that the Professor had peace as well as space for his research.

"You bet" Casey replied. "And you?"

"I couldn't even sleep last night" Tyson replied. His face did look a little haggard, so Casey was inclined to believe him. "Do you think the Professor is ready to see us?"

"I can't imagine him not being ready" Casey replied. Then he immediately added, "Then again, it is Professor Willows, so he's probably engrossed in some secret mystery or other." They both laughed at the thought. The pair small talked as they made their way out of the village and through the lush countryside. Around the path to the Professor were green fields and trees, with a few cornfields of to the north and south. The windmill used to grind corn to flower could be seen on the eastern side of the village.

After about 15 minutes, the pair arrived at a mansion. They didn't bother ringing the doorbell – either it was still broken as it had been for years now, or the Professor had finally fixed it but was to occupied to hear it anyway. They opened the door and stepped into a fine hall, decorated with paintings and small statues of Pokémon. On the far end hang a portrait of the professor himself, an old man with a full, grey beard and large glasses, surrounded by various Pokémon that had been in his care. The floor was covered by a red carpet.

"Professor Willows!" Tyson called. "We're here to receive our Pokémon!" The two of them waited but there came no reply. Tyson called again but to no avail. Then, a small round, brown Pokémon, with three green spheres on top, came walking out from one of the adjacent rooms.

"Oh, hi Bonsly" Casey said and crouched down to pet the baby Pokémon.

"Bon" it said affectionately as Casey petted it.

"Could you take us to where the Professor is?" he asked it.

"Ly Bonsly" it said and started walking back towards where it had come from. The two youngsters looked at each other. Tyson shrugged and they started to follow Bonsly. The baby led them through room after room, until they finally found the Professor in his study. He was sitting with his back turned to them with his brown cape obscuring any of his bodily features, bend over an ancient book.

"…and so ends the tale of the Guardian of the Sanctum of the Sun" the old man read out loud. Casey and Tyson both assumed he was talking to himself, as the Professor had given no indication of having heard their arrival. "But is it really just a tale?" he continued to ponder. "I know from my field study, that the Sanctum indeed was used to house the legendary guardian of which the tale speaks, but I know not, which one it could be, nor if it still resides there. Hmm…" He was quiet for a moment. "I guess I will have to go on another field trip. I should ask Casey and Tyson if they want to join me on it." The elderly man turned around. "Ah, Casey, Tyson. Remarkable timing" he said, apparently surprised that they were right in front of him. "I need you two to pack your backs and come with me. We're going to the Sanctum again."

"Actually, Professor Willows" Tyson interrupted, "we're here to start our Pokémon journey."

"Oh my, was that today?" the professor asked bewildered. "I thought it wasn't until the 7th."

"It is the 7th today, Professor" Casey said.

The Professor stared at him, then checked his watch, where a small field displayed the date. "So it is… I was sure it was only the 5th… How time flies."

"What are you working on now, Professor?" Casey asked and indicated the book on the table.

"Ah yes, I'm currently researching the myths surrounding our very own Sanctum of the Sun" he started explaining. "As you know, the Sanctum is located a little to the north of the village and it has been the focal point of local folklore and worship for as long as any can remember. One of these myths, speak of a legendary guardian of the Sanctum, who would appear when the land was in peril. However, I have only been able to translate fragments of the whole myth and as such I have been unable to pierce together which Pokémon is the guardian. Maybe the Sanctum holds the key somewhere…" The Professor started to trail off and Tyson shot Casey an angry look.

"Professor, our Pokémon" Tyson interrupted before the old man would be completely lost in thought again.

"Ah, yes, of course" the Professor said. "Come with me, please." The old man walked out of the room and the two teenagers followed him. The Professor led them to a large room, quite unlike anything in the mansion. Where his study had been filled with bookshelves, this room was stuffed with shelves, containing a myriad of Poké Balls. The boys were led through the room, until Professor Willows sat down on a chair at a desk and took out two folders.

"Here" he said, handing the folders to the boys. "In these you can see all the Pokémon available as starting Pokémon. There are a total of 15 Pokémon, evenly divided between Fire-, Water- and Grass-types."

Casey opened his folder. On the first page was a nice overview of all the 15 Pokémon they could choose from. He turned the page and was met with a picture of the Grass-type Pokémon Bulbasaur, as well as a description. As he turned page after page until he had gone through the binder.

"Have you both chosen your Pokémon?" the Professor asked them after a few minutes.

"I have" Tyson said.

"As have I" confirmed Casey.

"Very well, then" the Professor said and turned towards the computer. "Casey, which one would you like?"

"I'd like this one" Casey replied and put down the folder, opened on a picture of a small, turtle-like Pokémon with a brown shell and a green head.

"Ah, a Turtwig" the Professor said and typed something on the computer. "An excellent choice. And you, Tyson?"

"I'll have a Torchic, please" Tyson said, showing the Professor an orange-red chick with a larger-than-average head.

"I see, a Torchic" the Professor said, as he typed some more on his computer. "Very well, they should be arriving… now." A crackle and a white flash drew the boys' attention to the left. A Pokémon Transfer Device was positioned there. But opposed to the ones normally found at Pokémon Centers, this one had 6 slots, rather than just one. Above two of the slots, white lightning crackled and after a few seconds, the Poké Balls containing their future partners materialized. The Professor rose and walked over to the machine to take the two spheres.

"Here you go" he said, as he handed the boys their Pokémon. "They are your new partners. I also have this for you" he said as he turned around again to rummage through a drawer in his desk. When he turned to face the two boys again, he held two flat devices in one hand and a small pouch in the other. "This" he started and handed them the flat devices, "is a Pokédex. It's an interactive encyclopedia that contains data on all known Pokémon species. It also has many other functions, which you can learn more about in its help-menu."

Casey took his Pokédex and studied it. It was rectangular, about three times longer than it was high, with a round dial on the left side and a lens in the middle. It was a soft shade of green, unlike Tysons which was a blazing red. When opened, the "lid" was flipped above the other part, almost forming a perfect square. Both parts had a screen, which Casey assumed would display various amounts of information.

"I also want you to have these" the Professor continued on and opened the pouch. "These are Poké Balls, crucial if you are going to catch any more Pokémon. I assume you already know how they work, right?" The boys nodded, as they each took five Poké Balls from the professor and stored in their backpacks.

"Was that it?" Tyson asked.

"I believe so" the Professor asked.

"Great" Tyson said enthusiastically. "I've been waiting a long time to say this: Casey, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

"Heh, I knew you'd say that" Casey replied with a smirk. "Fine, I accept your challenge."

"Mhm" the Professor nodded in agreement. "What better way to instantly bond with your new friends. Alright, follow me outside."

* * *

_Wednesday the 7th of Silversun_

_09:02, Professor Willows Lab_

The sun had climbed further into the sky since the two boys had entered the mansion. Now it shone from a perfectly blue sky, down upon a grassy field, where Casey and Tyson had taken up positions. Between them, and a little off to the side, was the Professor, who seemed quite taken aback by the harsh sunlight.

"This will be a practice match between Casey and his Turtwig versus Tyson and his Torchic" the Professor said, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Trainers, show your Pokémon."

"Torchic, go!" Tyson yelled as he whipped the Poké Ball into the air. At the top of its arch, it opened and flew back to Tyson, releasing a white energy, which quickly took the form of a small bird with a disproportionately large body and head, but not so much as to be ugly.

"Chic" it said, hopping on one leg, clearly glad to be free of the confines of the Poké Ball.

"My turn. Go, Turtwig!" Casey shouted as he threw his Poké Ball. Like Tyson's it opened and unleashed a white energy, which in turn took the shape of a small turtle with a big jaw. On top of its head was a small sapling with two leafs.

"Twig" it said, shaking its head and body.

"Trainers, are you ready?" the Professor asked. Both of them nodded in turn. "Then start the battle!"

"Alright, let's do this!" Tyson said. "Torchic, use Scratch."

"Chic" the small bird replied and ran across the grassy fields towards Casey and his Turtwig.

"Turtwig, block it with Withdraw" Casey shouted. The green turtle made a grunt and retracted its four legs into its shell, as well as pulling its neck as far into the shell as possible. No sooner had Turtwig completed the move, before Torchic came soaring and tried to dig its small claws into Turtwig's shell, but the attack didn't seem to do much damage.

"Our turn" Casey shouted at Turtwig. "Use Tackle!"

"Turt!" the green turtle said and popped back out of its shell, startling Torchic. Before Tyson could give the command to move away, Turtwig launched itself at full power into the defenseless Torchic, knocking it backwards.

"Torchic, are you okay?" Tyson called concerned. The small bird jumped to its feet and shook itself, then nodded and chirped. "Alright, use growl." The orange chicken made a low chirping sound, though it didn't sound all that intimidating.

"How does a bird growl anyway?" Casey asked, scratching his head.

"Twig" his partner responded, just as confused as its owner.

"Eh, you can stop now, Torchic" Tyson said and the chirping stopped. "Try another Scratch attack." Torchic once more started running towards its opponent.

"Alright, I want to try something, Turtwig" Casey said. "Counter their attack with Tackle." Turtwig started running towards the incoming Torchic. "Now, jump and use Withdraw!"

"What?" Tyson shouted bewildered.

"What is he planning?" Professor Willows mused.

The small green turtle used its running start and jumped, still aiming for Torchic. As Casey had asked it to, it immediately drew in its limbs as before. Torchic was slowing down as it was faced with a hard shell flying towards it.

"Oh no!" Tyson said, then shouted. "Torchic, evade!" But it was too late. The withdrawn Turtwig hit Torchic full on, flinging the little chicken backwards.

"Torchic!" Tyson screamed as his Pokémon sailed through the air. At that moment, Torchic opened its eyes, looked straight at Turtwig. The little chick opened its mouth and let loose a bolt of fire.

"Is that… Ember?" Tyson asked.

"No" the Professor said. "That move is Flame Burst."

"Flame Burst?" Casey and Tyson asked in unison, before they returned their attention to the battle in front of them. "Quick, Turtwig. Try and dodge it" Casey shouted to his partner. Turtwig tried to jump but was a fraction of a second too late. The powerful attack hit it straight on and spread in every direction, smoldering the field where it landed. The Grass-Type was knocked back as a result of the hit.

"The match ends in a draw" the Professor declared. "Neither Trainer is the winner."

"But why, professor?" Tyson asked. "We can still fight." Then to his Torchic, "Right, Torchic?" The small bird was sitting on the ground panting, seemingly not having heard its Trainer. On the other side of the field, Casey's Turtwig seemed in no better shape. "Oh" Tyson said softly. "I guess I understand."

"But it was a great match" Willows said. "You should both be very proud of your Pokémon." The boys smiled. "Now recall your Pokémon. They deserve a nice long rest."

"Turtwig, return" Casey said while pointing Turtwig's Poké Ball at the turtle. Meanwhile, Tyson recalled his Pokémon as well. Then the two boys turned back to Professor Willows. "We should get going now" Casey said.

"Thanks for being our judge, Professor" Tyson said.

"You're most welcome boys" the Professor said.

"Goodbye, Professor" they said and turned around, heading back the way they had come, towards the village. They stopped as they reached the western outskirts of the village.

"So" Tyson said. "Do we go around or through the village?"

"Around" Casey said. "We have our Pokémon now, we've started on our journey and we won't come back to Nesot until our journey is done."

Tyson smiled. "I like the way you think" he said. "Alright then. Next stop: Barme Town."

_And so, our two heroes have left the comforts of their home, not knowing what destiny has in store for them. What exciting adventures await them on their journey throughout Gawaro?_

* * *

**And there you have it folks. That was the first chapter of The Gawaro Chronicles. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, what did you enjoy? If you disliked it, why? Let me hear your thoughts and opinions.  
**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: ?; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - ?

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: ?; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst


	2. Forest Disaster

**Welcome back to The Gawaro Chronicles. Last time we started out with Casey and Tyson, who each received a Pokémon. This time, we're upping the action a little. **

**I want to thank Shadow Serenity 57 and Tyhe2476 for their reviews on chapter 1. When I get the time, I'll go back and fix what they pointed out. Without further ado, here's chapter 2.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2 – A Karrablast of a Time  
**

_Wednesday the 7th of Silversun_

_12:06 am, Route 701_

The sun was still shining bright from high on its orbit, as Casey and Tyson made their way up a small hill. It had been over an hour ago that the pair had lost sight of their home village of Nesot, but they were still going strong.

"It's amazing, you know?" Tyson said as they paused to catch their breath. "Before, Pokémon were just a part of our day-to-day lives, something we took for granted." Casey looked at his friend, wondering how long it had been since he had heard Tyson act philosophical. "But now, you can't help but notice them everywhere you look."

Casey looked over the grassy fields and had to admit that his friend was right. A little off the path were a few Poochyena cubs playing, their dark-grey fur shining brilliantly in the light. A bit further away were a Caterpie, munching on the leaves of a small bush. Overhead, a group of Pidgey flew by.

"You're right, Tyson" Casey said and started walking again.

"So, where are we heading again?" Tyson asked as he caught up to Casey.

"We're going to Barme Town first" Casey said. "With a little luck, we'll be there by tonight. After that, it's on to Relyb City, where there is a Gym."

"Right, Relyb City" Tyson said.

"Still" Casey said after a few minutes of walking, "it was a real surprise about your Torchic." Tyson made a questioning sound and gave Casey a quizzical glance. "The way it knew Flame Burst" Casey explained. "I've never heard of a Torchic learning that move on its own nor of anyone successfully teaching a Torchic Flame Burst."

"Hmm" Tyson said. "Maybe my Torchic just have really good genes?" Now it was Casey's turn to throw his friend a quizzical glance. "I mean, maybe it's just so strong already, that it's capable of learning such a powerful move right away all on its own."

"I seriously doubt that's the case" Casey said with a laugh.

"Tsk, laugh all you want" Tyson scuffed. "I know my Torchic is special."

"That it is" Casey agreed, trying to stop laughing. "So, have you picked out a name yet?"

"Yes and no" Tyson said. "I mean, I have a list, but I don't know which one Torchic would like."

"I hear you" Casey said. "I only have a single name in mind, so I'm hoping that Turtwig will like it."

The pair continued on down the winding road for a few minutes. A single cloud lazily drifted in front of the sun, cooling the traveling teenagers a little. They climbed another small rise and stopped to take a look. Ahead of them, the road continued on before going into a forest, which stretched as far as they could see. Just before the forest was a small pond, in which a Goldeen was swimming around.

"What do you say we break for lunch there?" Casey asked and indicated the pond.

"Sounds like a plan to me" Tyson agreed and the pair started walking towards the pond. Once there, they took off their packs. While Casey began to prepare a small lunch, Tyson gathered water and after that, headed a little into the forest to gather some firewood. He had almost finished gathering enough wood, when he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the underbrush.

Before Tyson could react, a small creature sprang out of the thicket, coming right at him. Surprised, Tyson let go of the firewood he was carrying and caught the creature. He then held it at arm's length to study it. The creature was about a foot tall. It was round of body and primarily blue, although it had a yellow belly. On its head was a vice-like horn.

"Hello there" Tyson said bewildered. "I'm Tyson. Who are you?"

"Karra Karrablast" the Pokémon said.

"A Karrablast, huh?" Tyson said, as he bent down to place the Pokémon on the ground. "You seem like you're in a hurry. Where are you going?"

"Blak Kar Karra" the blue Pokémon said, gesturing at both the forest and down the path.

"You're trying to get away from the forest, aren't you?" Tyson asked it. The Karrablast nodded in confirmation. "Why?" Before Karrablast could say or do anything, a loud rustle could be heard from the underbrush. Karrablast tensed up and instantly ran behind Tyson. _This must be what Karrablast was running away from_ he thought to himself.

"Ursa!" a loud cry sounded as a gang of small Teddiursa erupted from the bushes. The Teddiursa were all small brown bears, with a crescent-shaped mark on their forehead. But their current demeanor was nothing like their cute appearance. One of the small bears took a few steps forward and started talking to Tyson and Karrablast. "Ursa Urt Tedur Teddiur!"

"I don't understand" Tyson said, wary of the Teddiursa. _What do I do?_ he thought as the Teddiursa started yelling again. _Casey's too far away to hear me and I have a feeling that these Teddiursa are after Karrablast. If so, I can't just leave him._ The Teddiursa stopped talking, seemingly waiting for a reply. "I'm sorry" he said, "but I'm not giving up Karrablast."

"Ura!" the lead bear screamed and all as one they sprang towards Tyson.

He reacted without thinking, grapping the Poké Ball at his waist and throwing it at the Teddiursa. "Go, Torchic. Use Flame Burst!" To himself he added: "And let's hope the forest isn't too dry around here." Meanwhile, Torchic had emerged from its Poké Ball and with a cry, shot a ball of flame at the lead Teddiursa. The attack connected and the small bear recoiled at the hit, falling just short of its target. At the same time, the fireball shot out in every direction, hitting and deterring the other Teddiursa as well.

The gang of Teddiursa got to their feet, shouted something and then ran away into the underbrush again. "Torchic Tor" Torchic said, posing proudly.

"Great job, Torchic" Tyson said, praising his Pokémon. Then he turned to Karrablast. "It's okay now" he said. "I don't think they will bother you anymore."

"Kar Blaka" Karrablast said, its eyes moist with tears of gratitude. Then, it ran away, deeper into the forest, leaving Torchic and Tyson.

"Well that was interesting" Tyson said. "We should get back to Casey, right Torchic?" His partner agreed with a happy chirp.

Tyson gathered up the firewood he had dropped before and together with Torchic made his way back to Casey. While they ate, Tyson told Casey what had happened in the woods, making sure that Torchic got all the praise its little heart could bear. An immensely proud Torchic sat by his side, interrupting the story if it weren't being petted enough. All the while, Casey enjoyed the tale and his lunch, with his Turtwig lying next to him in the sunlight.

"Quite a tale" Casey said after Tyson had finished. "But Teddiursa are usually very calm and gentle Pokémon. I wonder why they would be so angry at a Karrablast."

"I haven't a clue" Tyson said and took another bite of his sandwich, "bhut I'm slure we'll find ouht."

"Please, chew before you talk" Casey said with a mild laugh, causing Tyson to grin as well. Soon after, both of them had finished their lunch, packed their backs and were ready to go.

"Say, Turtwig" Casey started, "would you like to walk with us for a while? The weather is nice and we need to figure out your nickname."

"Twi" the green turtle replied happily.

"How about you, Torchic?" Tyson asked. "You up for some walking too?"

"Torchic" the orange bird replied; feeling like it could take on the world.

"Then let's get going" Casey said, picked up his bag and the gang started walking into the woods. Even though the leaves formed a canopy, the forest was still warm. Every now and then a soft breeze could be felt, helping them to stay cool. Like the fields outside, the forest was teeming with life, once you got far enough in. Pineco were hanging from trees amidst Seedot; colonies of Wurmple and Sewaddle were munching on tree leaves and up in the trees, Tailow and Pidove could be seen making their nests.

"Now then" Casey said to Turtwig, "I'm thinking you need a nickname."

"Twig?" Turtwig said, looking up at Casey.

"Heh, no not Twig, though it's cute" Casey laughed. "I was thinking Twurt. Do you like that?" Turtwig appeared to be mulling it over, until finally nodding its head vigorously. Casey smiled. "Okay, then your name is Twurt."

"What kind of name is Twurt anyway?" asked Tyson.

"An excellent one" Casey said satisfied, "but enough about that. What about you and Torchic?"

"I know" Tyson said, then turned to Torchic. "So I was thinking Ember. How do you like that?" Torchic just cocked its head.

"You want to name it after an attack?" Casey asked, feigning disbelief. "That's original. Ember, use Ember" he teased.

"Don't listen to him, Torchic" Tyson scowled. "Well, do you like it?" Torchic shook its head. "Hmm… How about Flash?" Torchic shook its head again. "Forge?" The small chicken shook its head again. "Tinder? Coal? Scorch?" Tyson tried, increasingly desperate, but in spite of all his pleading, Torchic disliked all the names. "Aww, why don't you like any of them?" Tyson said with his head hung.

"I wonder…" Casey started. "Torchic, are you a girl?"

"Chi Torchi!" the small bird exclaimed and hopped up and down.

"That's why it didn't like any of your names" Casey said. "They were all male-sounding names. No girl Pokémon wants a male name."

"Huh…" Tyson said thoughtfully. After a brief moment he snapped his fingers. "I know. How do you like Corona?" Torchic cocked its head for a second, then chirped excited. "You like it?" Torchic confirmed by nodding its head. "Alright, then Corona is your name."

"Torchic!" Corona said. Casey smiled and Twurt made an approving sound.

Then suddenly came a sound from further ahead and a little to the left of the path they were following. The group exchanged looks and ran towards the disturbance. Just as they got over there, a blue and yellow creature jumped out of the underbrush and into Tysons arms.

"Hey, it's that Karrablast from before" Tyson said with Corona confirming.

"Wasn't it running from something last time it found you like this?" Casey asked.

"Yeah it was." Then he looked at Karrablast. "Are the Teddiursa after you again?" Karrablast shook its head. "Then what is?" Karrablast pointed agitatedly into the woods and made some incomprehensible noises, after which it tried to bury itself in Tyson's chest.

"I wonder what has got it so spooked" Casey asked out loud. Immediately, a loud roar sounded from inside the forest, and the pounding of big feet on the forest floor could be heard.

"What is that?" Tyson asked concerned.

"I don't know and I don't want to stay and figure out" Casey said. "Let's get away from here."

"Right!" With Karrablast still clutched to Tyson's chest, the two Trainers and their Pokémon started running along the forest path. But no matter how fast or how long they ran, the sound just kept coming closer. "I think it's gaining on us" Tyson shouted over the roars coming from behind.

"You think?!" Casey replied, still sprinting along.

"Arh, forget it!" Tyson shouted and skidded to a stop, Corona at his side.

"Tyson!" Casey shouted; then he and Twurt stopped as well.

"I say we fight" Tyson said defiantly. "No matter what it is we can take…" His speech was interrupted by a large bear jumping out on the path. It was well over two meters tall standing on its hind legs, with its mouth open to reveal each and every sharp tooth. Its belly was marked with a large yellow ring. "… it" Tyson concluded. The Ursaring roared again, sending shivers up and down the back of both boys and their Pokémon. "On second thought, discretion is the better part of valor, so… RUN AWAY!" Tyson, Corona, Casey and Twurt immediately turned around and sprinted away with renewed energy, but the large Ursaring wasted no time pursuing them.

_That thing is relentless_ Casey thought. _There must be some way to get away from it, but how?_ Casey looked over his shoulder. The big, brown bear was getting ever closer, its large arms swinging around in circles, the white claws shining whenever a ray of sun broke through the leaves. Then, Casey noticed something. "Hey, Tyson" he called as they kept on running, "that Teddiursa you fought before, you used Flame Burst on it, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Tyson replied, stilling running with a scared Karrablast in his arms.

"I think this is the very same one" Casey answered. "Look, it has a scorched spot inside the ring."

Tyson turned his head while running. "You're right" he said after a second. "But when I fought it, it was a small Teddiursa" Tyson said. "How did it evolve so fast?"

"I'm just guessing" Casey said as they kept running, "but intense stress and other powerful emotions, have been known to sometimes make Pokémon evolve, even if they weren't strong enough."

"So what you're saying is…?" Tyson asked.

"That between you and that Karrablast, you royally ticked it off" Casey answered with a slight smile.

"How exactly is that funny?!" Tyson screamed at him.

"It's funny because it means you were right before" Casey said. Tyson sent him a curious look. "It means we can beat it." As he said that, Casey skidded to a stop with Twurt beside him. Tyson and Corona stopped as well. "Twurt, use Tackle and Withdraw, just like you did earlier" Casey said, referring to the battle against Tyson right after they had both gotten their Pokémon. But instead of running, Twurt stood still, energy focusing on the sapling on its head and launched a powerful yellowish green projectile at Ursaring.

"What was that?" Tyson asked, as surprised as Casey was.

"Seed Bomb, I think" Casey replied. "That's awesome, Twurt" he told his partner. "I had no idea you could do that." The green turtle smiled at him.

"Tsk, that Ursaring is still going strong" Tyson said, bringing Casey and Twurt back to the battle. "Corona, you use Flame Burst!" Tyson commanded.

"Chi!" Corona said and fired a ball of fire towards the approaching Ursaring.

"Twurt, join in with Seed Bomb!" Casey shouted.

"Tur" Twurt replied and fired another projectile. The two attacks hit Ursaring straight on. In Tysons arms, the small Karrablast admired the two humans and Pokémon, fighting to keep it safe. Ursaring roared, in pain this time, and charged towards them again, its arm raised.

"Time to get up close and personal" Tyson said. "Corona, use Scratch."

"Twurt, aid her with a Tackle" Casey shouted.

"Kar Karra" Karrablast said, struggling in Tysons grip.

"What's that?" Tyson asked. Karrablast looked pleadingly up at him. "You want to fight too?" The wild Pokémon nodded. "Alright" Tyson said and let go of the Karrablast. "Let's see what you got."

Corona and Twurt were already running towards the Ursaring and Karrablast set after them, energy building around its mouth in the shape of a beak. As one, the three Pokémon jumped. Corona flung a leg across the bears face, leaving bright red scratch marks. Twurt hit the Ursaring right in the stomach, causing it to stumble. Karrablast flew past Twurt to place its Peck attack right in the center of the brown bears ring. With a loud roar, the bear fell backwards and this time it stayed down, breathing heavily.

"Alright, we did it!" the boys shouted in unison and high-fived. Their Pokémon joined in as well, with plenty of triumphant cries.

"That was awesome" said Tyson. "We just beat an Ursaring. How many Rookie Trainers can claim that?"

"Not many" Casey said with a huge grin, "though it wasn't as strong as it could have been."

"Who cares?" asked Tyson, brushing him off. "We won, and that's that." Then he turned to Karrablast and crouched down, looking the small Bug-type in the eye. "I guess this means you're safe once again."

"Blas…" it said, looking up at Tyson.

"So, go on out there" Tyson said with a smile. "Live your life to the fullest. Those Teddiursa should leave you alone from now on."

"Kar…" Karrablast replied, its eyes moist.

Tyson stood up, turned and started walking, Corona hesitating but a second before following suit. Casey lingered a moment longer, then he too turned and ran the few steps up to Tyson.

Tyson let out a sigh of relief. "What a start on our journey, huh?" he asked his friend.

"I have a feeling it's only just begun" Casey said.

"KARRABLAST!" a familiar voice cried from behind. The boys stopped and looked over their shoulders, seeing the small blue and yellow Bug-type running towards them on its small stubby legs. Tyson crouched down and caught it as it jumped towards him.

"Whoa, there buddy" he said, overwhelmed, but the small Bug-type wouldn't stop crying. "I guess… you've grown to like me too, huh?" he added so softly, Casey barely heard it. "How would you like to come with us, Karrablast?" Tyson asked.

"Blaka Kar!" it replied, nodding vigorously.

"Heh, alright" Tyson said with a smile on his lips and a single tear of happiness in the corner of his eye. He found a Poké Ball and held it out towards Karrablast, who banged its body into the small button. The Poké Ball split open, turned Karrablast into red energy, sucked it inside and snapped close. The sphere rustled only once before falling quiet. Tyson got up. "YES!" he shouted. "I have a Karrablast!"

"Torchic!" Corona added excited.

"Congratulations" Casey said.

"Thanks" Tyson replied as he placed the Poké Ball in his belt.

"But you know, there's a bad thing about you catching Karrablast" Casey said as they prepared to walk again.

"What's that?"

"You'll have to think of another nickname" Casey replied, a smirk on his lips. Both boys instantly burst into laughter.

_After less than a day on the road and already the first encounter, and capture, under their belt, what lies in store for our heroes next?_

* * *

**See, told you there was a lot more action this time around, not to mention a lot of humour.**

**For those of you about to say that Torchic cannot learn Flame Burst, I direct your attention to possible Breeding Moves. So when Tyson jokingly said that his Torchic had superior genes, he was actually right. Same goes for Turtwig's Seed Bomb.  
**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: ?; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	3. The Clock Tower of Barme Town

**Hello, dear reader, and welcome back.**

**I trust you're enjoying yourself so far? After all, why else would you come back? This chapter is more relaxed than chapter 2. Our heroes have finally reached Barme Town at the end of their first day. This is also the first chapter where I really delve into the lore and mysteries of the Pokémon world. As for what I mean, do read on.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 – The Clock Tower of ****Barme Town**  


_Wednesday the 7__th__ of Silversun_

_18:34, Route 701_

The sun was slowly starting to set over Gawaro, as Casey and Tyson climbed the last hill on the road to Barme Town. They stopped at the top by unspoken consent, overlooking the town. The town of Barme was a small town, not much larger than the village they hailed from themselves. The town was surrounded by a wooden palisade, which looked worn from the weather. The buildings were fairly low, as if they had intentionally been built to not rise over the barrier. The only building not to fit this was what appeared to be a large church or clock tower. Something reflected the light at the top, though what it was, they couldn't tell.

"Would you look at that" Casey said, taking in the view. The two boys stood on the crest of the hill, overlooking the winding road down to the small village. Along the path were bushes and trees, a few of which were crawling with Pokémon activity.

"It is a pretty good view" Tyson agreed.

"Shall we?" Casey asked, nodding his head towards the town.

"Let us" Tyson replied.

The duo started down the slope, eager to spend the evening in the town and the night at the Pokémon Center. As they got closer, they were able to get a better look at the palisade. It was at least twice their height, made of thick, heavy wood. The surface was scarred, as if from repeated battles. The large gate was still open and the two were allowed to walk right in. They quickly located the Pokémon Center, easily distinguished by its white walls and red roof, and entered.

The room they walked into was spacious, without being large. A few plants stood on either side of the entrance. On the left side of the room were benches and a door, with a sign that read "Trainers Lounge". To their right were a row of videophones, large green devices with a telephone and a screen for seeing those you were talking with. Directly in front of the entrance was the counter, behind which a young lady with pink-red hair and a white nurse cap and apron was standing. A smile spread across her lips as she eyed the newcomers.

"Welcome to the Barme Town Pokémon Center" the young lady said as Casey and Tyson crossed the room. "My name is Joy and I'm the Pokémon Nurse here. Most people just call me Nurse Joy."

"Hi, Nurse Joy" Casey said. "My name is Casey and this is my friend Tyson." Tyson smiled and nodded a greeting. "We were hoping you could take care of our Pokémon for us."

"Of course" Nurse Joy said. "Just place your Poké Balls in the tray over there, and Chansey will come fetch them right away." While she spoke, she gestured at a rolling table with plenty of indentations for Poké Balls. The two Trainers did as instructed and no sooner than they had placed their total of three Poké Balls, a large pink Pokémon appeared from a door behind the counter, grabbed the rolling table and dragged it out. "I'll go take care of your Pokémon now" Nurse Joy said and bowed.

"Before you go" Tyson said, "is there anywhere we can get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Are you two new Trainers?" Nurse Joy asked, to which they nodded. "That explains it then" she said with a smile, causing both boys to look at her confused. She began to explain: "The Pokémon Center exists not only to treat Pokémon, but also to take care of their Trainers. That's why you, in the Trainers Lounge to my right, can order something to eat, see if there is a vacant bed, shop for the most essential items and medicines that Trainers need, meet other Trainers to trade and battle and much more." Nurse Joy paused for breath. "Furthermore, you can also use the computers there to make changes to your active party, browse the web, watch the news on the television or find out information about Gym Leaders and the like."

"Wauw, all that and more?" Tyson asked.

"Yes and the best part is, other than the shop, it's all free" Nurse Joy replied. "Now I'll go and help Chansey take care of your Pokémon. If you are new Trainers, you've probably only been on the road for a day or two, so it shouldn't take too long to make them healthy." With that, Nurse Joy bid them farewell and followed Chansey out.

"Let's get something to eat" Tyson said. Casey nodded.

The two walked over to the Trainers Lounge and opened the door. The room inside was even larger than the room they had just come from. The wall on their left was dotted with windows and filled with small booths with room for four persons. Several of them were already occupied by other Trainers, though most booths only held one or two persons each. To their right was first the counter where you could order food, and further down a small PokéMart. What was at the end was impossible to tell, as the room curved to the right, obscuring the end from their vision.

The two boys walked up the counter. Behind it was a large man, wearing a white chef's apron and hat. The few strands of hair that stuck out beneath the hat were white and unkempt, tough Casey could easily understand that it was useless to try otherwise in a kitchen.

"With ya in a second, lads" the big man said as he stirred both pots and pans. With a final shake of a pan he turned around. "What'll it be?" he asked.

"What's on the menu today?" Casey asked.

"Pork chops and rice" the chef replied. "You two have the look of traveling youngsters about you. Two big plates, coming right up."

"But we didn't even…" Tyson said, but the chef had already left to prepare their dishes. He soon returned with two large dishes of rice and meat.

"Here ya go, laddies" he said, putting the plates on the counter. "There's water, juice, soda and what not down the end. Go find a seat, grab a drink and eat your meal. Bye now." The chef's tone wasn't unfriendly, but it had such a commanding air, that the boys dared not disobey.

A few minutes later they had found an unoccupied booth, fetched their drinks and sat down to eat. The sofa-like seats were surprisingly soft, if a tad too dark a green.

"So, have you thought of a good nickname for Karrablast yet?" Casey asked as they ate.

"Not quite" Tyson said.

"Let's see what the Pokédex says" Casey said and frisked it out of his bag. It only took a short while to find Karrablast's entry.

"Karrablast, the Clamping Pokémon" the Pokédex read out, in a female voice. "Karrablast live in forests and fields, and often hide in trees or grass when threatened. They can also defend themselves by spitting acid. For some reason they evolve when they receive electrical energy while they are attacking Shelmet."

"Hmm…" Tyson said. "What about Clamper?"

Casey coughed and almost choked on his morsel of meat. "Clamper?" he asked, as he wiped his mouth.

"Yeah" Tyson said. "It's a clamping Pokémon, so why not?"

"It's your call" Casey said.

"Hey, now that your Pokédex is out, what does it say about Corona?" Tyson asked.

"Let me check" Casey replied and looked up Torchic in the Pokédex.

"Torchic, the Chick Pokémon" the Pokédex started. "A fire burns inside, so it feels very warm to hug. If attacked, it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A Torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings. It launches fireballs which are 1.000 degrees C hot."

"A fiery little one" Tyson grinned. "Now do yours."

"Turtwig, the Tiny Leaf Pokémon" the female voice from the small machine read again. "It undertakes photosynthesis with its body, making oxygen. Its shell is made of earth and when it absorbs water, it becomes harder. On a very healthy Turtwig, the shell should feel moist." Casey packed the Pokédex away again and returned to his meal.

"So where are we headed next?" Tyson asked, chewing on a mouthful of rice.

Casey pulled out a town map from his backpack, chewed and pointed. "This is where we are now, Barme Town" he said, tapping his finger on a red spot on the map. "Then, it's a 3 day walk to Relyb City."

"Okay" Tyson said, scooping another mouthful of rice. The boys sat in silence, as they ate the rest of their meals. Afterwards, they returned their plates and went back to the clinical part of the Pokémon Center to retrieve their Pokémon. "Now what?" Tyson asked, as he placed his Poké Balls on his waist.

"I'd like to take a look around town" Casey replied. "I haven't been to Barme Town before."

"Okay, let's go have a look" Tyson said.

The two boys left the Pokémon Center and started walking around the town. As they had observed from the hilltop outside the town, most of the houses were single-story houses, with a few two-story-houses nearer the center. Shops were closing up and people were on their way home. After half an hour of walking and seeing the town, the two wound up in the middle of town, at the foot of the only building that towered over the palisade. It turned out to be a clock tower and a fairly old one at that. The stones used to build the tower were covered in moss, and where the moss had disappeared, scrapes and wear could be seen. Further up, a large round clock face decorated all four sides. Above those, a large bronze bell could be seen.

"That's one tall clock tower" Tyson said, looking upwards.

"Yeah" Casey agreed, gazing the same way. "I wonder how old it is."

"Ancient, or so the story goes" a voice said from next to Casey. The boys turned their heads and saw an old man standing next to them. He was shorter than both of them, and appeared even shorter as he leaned on a cane. He was balding, with only a few tufts of white hair left on his head. His white beard was long and almost reached his belt.

"Story?" Casey asked.

"Yes" the old man said. "You folks aren't from around here, are you?"

"No, sir" Tyson said. "We're from Nesot Village, down south of here."

"I see" the old man replied. "But to answer your question, there is a story that ties in with this old clock tower, if you have the time of course."

"Sure" Casey said.

"Okay" the old man started. "The story goes as such…

"Long, long ago, our Barme Town was a peaceful, little town, consisting of farmers. Our ancestors grew the best groceries and the finest fruit. But a group of thieves that lived nearby got jealous and wanted to take it all for themselves. And so, week after week they raided and plundered our fair town. We tried resisting them but to no avail. Week after week the thieves would come and week after week we would give them crops in the hope that they would not damage our town.

"Then one day, a traveler came to our town. He said he had heard of our plight and wanted to see if he could help. He observed, in hiding, how the thieves came and took what they wanted and after they had left, he formulated a plan. The plan was to build a barrier around our town – the palisades – and to train our ancestors to fight. The traveler himself helped both with felling the trees but also to erect the palisades.

"When the thieves finally came again, they were in for a surprise. Rather than a defenseless small town, they found a veritable encampment. They tried to lay siege to our town but to no avail and when they finally tired from their foiled attempts, the traveler struck. He went out amongst them with his partner, a blue bell-like Pokémon, and singlehandedly defeated the thieves. After this, the thieves never bothered us again.

"The next day the traveler left, said he was no longer needed here. But the townspeople had come to think of him as a hero. To honor and remember him, our people constructed this clock tower, shaping the bronze bell up top in the form of the hero's Pokémon. It then became tradition that the bell rung on the anniversary of the hero's departure and on other joyous occasions."

"Fascinating" Casey said with genuine interest, studying the tower.

"Yeah, fascinating" Tyson chimed in, though with no way near the same enthusiasm.

"My, my, look at the time" the old man said. "If you will excuse me, I will be on my way again." Before Casey or Tyson could say a word the man was on his way, presumably back home.

"What a boring tale" Tyson said. "And his voice sure didn't help any."

"Really?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you pay attention to the historical value of the tale?" Tyson rewarded him with a blank, gloomy stare. Casey sighed. "Then what about the Pokémon. A blue Pokémon, in the shape of a bell…"

"Yeah, I'm clueless" Tyson admitted, folding his arms behind his head.

"I'll say" a new voice sounded from behind them. The pair turned around to face a young man about their age. His brown hair was short, but curly, and his blue eyes seemed ice cold. He was wearing a blue jacket and a red pair of pants. "Disregarding our town's legend like that, you truly are clueless."

"Why you little…" Tyson started, but Casey grabbed hold of his arm.

"Who are you?" Casey asked. His tone wasn't unfriendly, but it wasn't filled with his usual warmth either.

"Name's Sean" the young man replied.

"I'm Casey" Casey answered in return, "and this is my friend, Tyson. We're just stopping by on our way to Relyb City."

"Relyb City" Sean said slowly. "Then I guess that means that the two of you are Pokémon trainers."

"That's right, you little runt" Tyson shouted, causing Casey to release his grasp of Tysons arm and move it to his mouth.

"What of it?" Casey asked back.

"Nothing" Sean said with a shrug. "I just don't see your friend, clueless as he is, handle Pokémon very well." Tyson struggled to get free but Casey managed to hold him back. "You see, I'm a trainer as well. And while I'd prefer to settle things in a Pokémon battle…."

"Look, we were about to head back" Casey interrupted. "So if you can possibly forgive my friend's ignorance, we'll just be on our way."

The boy seemed to think about it for a moment. "Fine, but remember this: I will become a hero, like the one in the legend, and I will not tolerate such ignorance regarding our beliefs." The boy spun around and walked away.

"Why that little…" Tyson started as soon as Sean was out of earshot.

"Calm yourself" Casey said and Tyson immediately turned quiet. "You ought to have known better than this, Tyson." Tyson looked away, not looking forward to the reprimand he knew was coming. "All that time we spent with Professor Willows, didn't that teach you anything? For some villages and towns, even some cities, local folklore mean everything. How would you feel if someone insulted the stories we grew up with regarding the Sanctum of the Sun?"

"It's not the same" Tyson started.

"It's exactly the same thing and you know it" Casey said. He paused and took a deep breath, then exhaled. Tyson just stood there, looking forlorn. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you like that." Tyson looked at his friend, who looked back at him. "It's been a long day and we're both tired. Just, please, try and remember that some people hold their town's lore very dear and insulting that lore or belief won't get us anywhere."

"You're right" Tyson said. "I'm sorry."

Casey shook his head. "It's not me you should apologize to, it's that boy Sean. But he's gone now and so be it. Let's get back to the Pokémon Center and get some sleep, okay?" Tyson agreed and the boys started back towards the Center.

It didn't take as long to get back as it had exploring the city and less than 20 minutes later, they found themselves back in the Trainers Lounge. When they asked the chef, who had started to clean his kitchen, he told them to go to the end of the curved hallway and ask the attendant there. The attendant was a young lady, dressed in a slightly too formal suit. When asked about available rooms, they were informed that nearly all rooms were still free, so they took a room each. The pair headed up the stairs and said goodnight, then found their respective rooms and went inside.

Once alone, Casey took a quick bath before donning his pajamas and climbing into bed. For a little while he lay there, gazing at the ceiling, thinking about the story. "A blue, bell-like Pokémon…" he mumbled out loud. "A bronze bell to honor the hero by… I know that Pokémon, I just can't place it…" With these thoughts Casey fell asleep.

_After an exciting first day on the road, what awaits our heroes on the morrow? _

* * *

**This marks the end of the first day on Casey and Tyson's journey. I hope that you by now can see the different personalities that I'm aiming for. I'm going for a Red Oni - Blue Oni kind of dynamic, with my main (Casey) being the blue, rather than the usual red one. I'm sure that most of you have already guessed which Pokémon the one referred to in the legends is, but I ask that you don't post it for those who haven't guessed it yet. Feel free to PM me though with your guess. If you have any other comments, however, then feel free to speak your mind. I'll accept both praise and criticism, as long as you can back that criticism up with facts :).**

**Also, I'm considering opening the story up for OC's. I'll still need to make a list of the info I need, but as Casey and Tyson journey on, they will meet a lot of people. Some of those might be recurring, some only once. If you already now have an idea for an OC, then PM me with what you have and I'll get back to you.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	4. Corphish the Ruffian

**Welcome once again, to a new chapter of The Gawaro Chronicles. Last episode we had a relaxing evening in Barme Town as well as hearing a legend about a hero and a Pokémon. We also meat Sean, a young boy with a strong conviction in his beliefs. So to mix things up, this chapter is more action oriented. This is currently the last chapter betaread by ****Tyhe2476**, so a big thanks to him as well. 

**To answer Pikachu0311 in the review-section, I'll likely have the form in place by next week, so when the first chapter uploads next week (Monday or Tuesday), so to will the form.**

**Without further ado, let's get to the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Corphish the Ruffian**

_Thursday the 8__th__ of Silversun_

_11:07, Route 702_

Casey and Tyson were climbing a hill, the sun steady overhead. The duo had left Barme Town early in the morning, following the route east, then north, towards Relyb City. It was another great day with lots of sunshine and only a few clouds in the sky. The grass on both sides of the road was vividly green. As they reached the hilltop, they could see the road ahead was winding between the hilly country, all the while going steadily east, in the direction of Mt Modnaid, the single largest mountain in the Gawaro region. The mountain was located practically in the center of the region and was so vast, that its status as a mountain was often disputed, as some geologists thought of it as a mountain range instead.

"Last one down the hill is a Slowpoke" Tyson grinned and burst into a run down the hill.

"Oh, no you don't" Casey shouted after him and started running after him. Casey ran harder and soon caught up with Tyson, only to overtake him.

"Hey, no fair!" Tyson called and sped up, chasing his friend, the fight of yesterday seemingly forgotten. Tyson caught up and side by side the two ran downhill, getting ever closer to Relyb City.

_Thursday the 8th of Silversun_

_11:45, Route 702_

"Phew, I'm beat" Casey panted as he bent over to support himself on his knees. Tyson panted an agreement. They had run continuously since the hill and were fully out of breath.

"How… about… we stop… for lunch?" Tyson asked between gasps of air. Casey nodded and pointed ahead of them. Tyson looked and saw what appeared to be a small lake a few hundred meters on. "At the lake… Good thinking."

The pair staggered their way to the lake. Once there, both boys squatted down at the lakefront, took off their shoes and soaked their feet in the cold water. It tickled at first, but the pleasure soon overcame the tickling.

"This is nice" Tyson said, lying on his back with his feet in the water.

"Yeah" Casey agreed as he stared over the lake. There was hardly a breeze in the air, so the lake was nearly mirror-like in its appearance. A single cloud passed by overhead, making an odd white spot on the lake. A Finneon jumped up through the water, trailing droplets behind its tail. The water on its light- and dark-blue body glistened beautifully. Then it descended, dived below the water and was gone. The boys relaxed for another few minutes. _It would be nice to have a Water-type Pokémon_ Casey thought, picturing himself swimming with a Goldeen and a Finneon.

"So, how about that lunch?" Tyson said as he sat up again. Casey nodded and the two began to prepare lunch, letting out Twurt, Corona and Clamper as well. Soon the three Pokémon were munching on Pokémon food, while Casey and Tyson were making sandwiches. Once done, they began eating, looking out over the lake, where a red Magikarp jumped up and landed back in the water.

"How far along are we?" Tyson asked between bites.

"We've actually come pretty far" Casey said and found the map. "See this lake" he tapped the map, "I believe it's the one we're sitting by now. And the river mouth over there fits with this river that runs along the road on the map."

"Really?" Tyson asked surprised. "With that kind of progress, we'll shave a full day off of our journey to Relyb City."

"You're right" Casey said as he put away the map, "but we shouldn't forget to enjoy the journey too."

"I know" Tyson said and lay down on his back. "Just think of all that happened yesterday. We got our first Pokémon, battled a horde of Teddiursa and a single Ursaring and then I got Clamper. And after all that, we still managed to get to Barme Town before sundown."

"Yeah" Casey agreed taking a bite out of his sandwich. "Still, that Sean kid sure did give you an earful."

"Don't remind me" Tyson said, waving a hand at his friend.

The two finished eating, then packed their stuff and recalled their Pokémon, who by now were dozing in the sunlight. They started walking along the road once more. Overhead, only a few lazy clouds were drifting along, doing nothing to hide the heat of the summer sun. The sun reflected perfectly in the water, only rarely disturbed by a small gust of wind.

"Ski" a cry came suddenly from ahead.

"What was that?" Tyson asked, more surprised than concerned.

"I don't know" Casey replied, "but it came from up ahead. Let's go." The two boys started running towards the cries, which kept on coming.

"It's coming from the river" Tyson said, as they got closer to the source.

"Yeah" Casey said, scanning the river with his eyes as he ran. Then he spotted something. "Look, out there." Casey pointed out over the river, towards a small, blue creature with a yellow top. Its body was round, and four thin, long legs extended from the body. The Pokémon looked severely injured.

"How do we reach it?" Tyson asked. In answer to his question, Casey had already thrown of his bag and was rushing to get his clothes off. Soon, he was down to just his underwear and jumped in. He took a good few, strong strokes and in no time reached the Pokémon. Grabbing hold of its body, he turned and swam ashore again. Tyson helped him and the Pokémon up.

"The poor thing is injured" Casey said, indicating a large gash on its side. "Find some food for it while I get dressed." Tyson did as he was told and while Casey took his clothes back on, Tyson poured the blue Pokémon some food. It sniffed it apprehensively, but hunger quickly got the better of it. Soon it was eating, though slowly.

"What Pokémon is that?" Tyson asked as he watched it eat.

"Let us see" a now dressed Casey said, finding his green Pokédex.

"Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon" the encyclopedia read out. "Surskit inhabits ponds, rivers, and similar wetlands. From the tips of its feet, Surskit secretes an oil that enables it to walk on water as if it were skating. This Pokémon feeds on microscopic organisms in ponds and lakes. If Surskit senses danger, it secretes a thick, sugary syrup from the tip of its head. There are some Pokémon that love eating this syrup."

"I wonder what happened to it" Tyson said out loud.

"I don't know" Casey replied, then crouched down beside the injured Pokémon. "Hey there." Surskit looked at him, a scared look in its eyes. "No need to be afraid" he said, slowly extending a hand. Surskit tensed up. Slowly, Casey extended his arm a little more, petting the Surskit. For a few seconds, Surskit froze completely. Then, as Casey started stroking it, it seemed to relax a little. "Tyson, do me a favor and call out Clamper."

"Uh, okay" Tyson said, then found Clamper's Poké Ball. He pressed the button and the usual white energy was released, forming the shape of a Karrablast.

"Karrablast" Clamper said, happy to be out of its Poké Ball.

"Clamper, could you talk to Surskit and tell it how we helped you?" Casey said, standing back up to give the two some space.

"I don't understand" said Tyson. "Why do you need Clamper to talk to it?"

"Because that Surskit is injured" Casey explained. "It's thankful for the food, but it doesn't quite trust us and why should it? With a gash like that, I would be wary of everything around me as well."

"I get it now" Tyson exclaimed. "So you're using Clamper to show that we can be trusted and we only want to help."

"That's right" Casey replied. They looked down at the two Bug-types, who seemed to be chatting the day away. "Your Karrablast sure is a chatterbox."

"I'll say" Tyson agreed. They watched the two Pokémon talk a little longer, before Clamper turned around.

"Karra Blakast Blar" Clamper said excited, its small stubby arms waving.

"Whoa, slow down there, we don't understand" said Tyson. Clamper nodded to Surskit. Surskit jumped back into the river and started skating upstream. Karrablast turned and ran after it, shouting at Tyson and Casey all the while. "I think we should follow them" Tyson said, not sure what was going on. Casey just nodded and the two boys started running after the two Bug-types.

The small Pokémon lead the two boys up the stream, off the road and soon into a veritable jungle of lake grasses. "I'll say this" Tyson panted, "We sure get a lot of exercise on this journey."

"Shh" Casey hissed and crouched down. Tyson sat down beside him and Casey slowly pulled away some of the grass to get a better look. Ahead of them was a group of Surskit, standing close together. They were shivering, cowering in fear. At first, Casey didn't understand why, then he spotted the reason. A predominantly red Pokémon, with a lobster-like body and huge pincers was walking towards the Surskits. Casey took out his Pokédex, turned down the volume and scanned the Pokémon.

"Corphish, the Ruffian Pokémon" the Pokédex read out softly. "Corphish catches prey with its sharp claws. Once it grips prey with its large pincers, it will never let go, no matter what. It has no likes or dislikes when it comes to food - it will eat anything. It adapts to any environment, will drive out its inhabitants, and claim the territory for its own."

"So that's what's going on" Casey mumbled and put away his Pokédex. Tyson looked at him but didn't say a word. "That Corphish is trying to drive the Surskit that live here away."

"What are we going to do?" Tyson asked, as the Corphish laughed at the cowering Surskit and stepped closer.

"I'm going to stop it" Casey said and stepped out of the grass, revealing himself. The Surskits were surprised and scared, not knowing if this new arrival was friendly or not. When the Surskit they had taken care off followed only a second later, they relaxed visibly. Corphish turned its head, clearly annoyed at the disturbance. Finally, Tyson and Clamper got out as well. "Hey, Corphish" Casey called, "I challenge you to a battle for the ownership of this river."

"Corphish?" the red Pokémon said, cocking its head a little.

"If I win, you leave the Surskit alone and disappear from this river." Corphish's eyes narrowed, clearly not glad about that part of the deal. "If you win, we'll find the Surskit a new home." Tyson gasped, as did Clamper and the Surskit. Corphish nodded and turned its entire body towards Casey. "Let's do this" he mumbled, pulled out Twurt's Poké Ball and letting it out. The green turtle with the brown shell appeared in front of him.

"Good luck" Tyson called, "Don't let the Surskit down."

"I won't" Casey replied then looked at Corphish. "Let's begin." Corphish wasted no time, charging straight ahead towards Casey's Turtwig. "Twurt, use Tackle!" Casey called and Twurt started running. Just as Turtwig was about to hit its opponent, Corphish shot its right pincer forward, getting a good grip on Twurt.

"Turtwig!" the Grass-type screamed, as the pincers dug into its shell and underbelly.

"That must be ViceGrip" Tyson sounded from the sidelines. Casey just grunted, praying that Turtwig wasn't hurt too badly. The damage done, Corphish flung its opponent away. With Turtwig sailing through the air, Corphish followed up with another attack. This time soft, transparent bubbles formed at its mouth and flew towards Turtwig.

"Is that BubbleBeam?" Tyson asked.

"No, just Bubble" Casey replied. _But what do I do?_ he thought to himself. _Turtwig can't dodge in midair. But then, I don't have too._ Then he said, "Twurt, use Withdraw!" The green turtle, who by now had corrected himself in midair withdrew into its shell, mere seconds before the bubbles made contact. The bubbles burst against the shell, seemingly harmless, with the sole effect of making the dirt on Twurt's shell moist. The shell fell down to earth and the turtle popped out.

"Turt!" Turtwig said, full of energy.

"Yeah, that's it!" Casey said, glad his partner didn't seem to be hurt too much. "Alright Twurt, let's go on the offensive. Use Seed Bomb!" Twurt acknowledged Casey's commands and started charging energy at the top of its head. But their opponent wasn't about to let them do so, as Corphish started to run towards Twurt. But Corphish was too slow and before it could reach Turtwig, Twurt had built up enough energy and fired the attack directly at the incoming opponent. Corphish flew back with a loud cry. "Nice work, Twurt."

"Twig!" it replied smiling.

"Phish Cor Corphish!" Corphish shouted as it got back on its legs and started towards its opponent.

"Twurt, use Tackle!" Once more Twurt ran towards Corphish, but this time, Corphish was a second to late with the pincer and took the full force of the Tackle. But instead of flying off, Corphish grabbed hold of Twurt's shell with a ViceGrip.

"Oh no!" Tyson gasped and several of the on-looking Surskit looked away.

"Twurt!" Casey shouted. Slowly, almost comically, Twurt turned its head.

"Tur?" it asked, unfazed by the pincer squeezing its shell.

"Doesn't it hurt, pal?" Casey asked concerned. The green turtle just shook its head. "I don't understand…" Casey started, then he remembered something from last night. While they had eaten dinner, they had looked up information about their Pokémon in the Pokédex. "What did it say about Turtwig…" Casey muttered, then he remembered. "Ah yes," he said out loud, "That was it. 'Its shell is made of earth and when it absorbs water, it becomes harder.' That's why Twurt isn't hurting now – the water from the bubbles provided us with the perfect defense."

"Who would have known?" asked Tyson. "I mean, I know Water-type attacks don't do well against a Grass-type, but this was unexpected."

"Let's wrap this up, Twurt. Use Seed Bomb at close range!" Turtwig started charging up energy, its small sapling glowing wildly. Corphish grunted, let go and jumped away, trying to get clear. "FIRE!" Twurt released the energy, directly at Corphish. Having no time to dodge, Corphish instead threw up its pincers tried to guard against the attack. The attack connected, resulting in a small explosion. The dust cleared and everyone gasped. Corphish was still standing.

"It must have used Harden" Casey muttered. "Use Tackle, Twurt!" Twurt quickly crossed the small distance before Corphish could recover. The force of the impact sent Corphish flying. "Poké Ball, GO!" Casey shouted as he ripped a Poké Ball from his belt and hurled it at the Corphish. The ball hit its mark, opened and absorbed Corphish as a mass of red energy. The sphere fell to the ground and started shaking. "Come on…" Casey said as he clenched his hands, willing the ball to stop wobbling. Another few shakes, then the button in the middle turned from red to white and there came an audible ping-sound.

"YEAH!" Casey shouted running over to pick up his Poké Ball, "I got a Corphish!"

"Turtwig!" Twurt chimed in.

"It's alright now" Casey said to the Surskit, a few of which were still cowering in fear. "Your home is safe now."

"Surskit Skur Si" the Surskits said, flocking about Casey, thanking him for saving them. Casey laughed with them.

"All's well that ends well, I guess" Tyson said, recalling Clamper, who was rejoicing as well. Then he walked over to Casey. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Casey looked at him, not quite sure what he meant. "To catch Corphish" Tyson explained. "That was your plan along. That's why you made that bet, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right" Casey said. "I figured I needed to give it a challenge it couldn't resist. Besides, I never had any intentions of losing."

"And you used to lecture me about this sort of thing" Tyson said with a sigh.

"He he, yeah, sorry about that" Casey laughed.

"Shouldn't we get going, though?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah, you're right" Casey said and shook the remaining Surskit off him. "We need to get back on the road." Then, to the Surskit he said, "You guys take care now okay?" The Surskit replied enthusiastically. The boys started walking, waving as they ventured through the grass, back towards the road to Relyb City.

* * *

_Thursday the 8__th__ of Silversun_

_23:30, ?_

It was a dark night for summer. The sky was overcast, it was going to rain tonight. There was not a star to be seen, not even the silver glow of the moon that could usually penetrate the cloud cover. Just darkness. It was for that very reason, that the room was lit by a soft glow from a lamp in the corner. The room itself wasn't too special. It looked like an elderly man's study, filled with bookshelf after bookshelf. The books themselves covered all kinds of topics; economy, business management, wildlife welfare, Pokémon training and much more. In the middle of the room was a large wooden desk, the pride of the room. The dark mahogany perfectly complemented the lighter wooden floor. Three large chairs, all mahogany as well, stood around the desk, one behind it and two in front. Of these chairs, two were currently occupied. The desk was clean, containing naught but a single laptop on the left side as well as a paper tray on the right. In the middle of the desk lay a single sheet of paper.

The man sitting behind the desk took the paper, holding it up to better read it. He was younger than the room would have the casual observer believe, being middle-aged rather than elderly. He was strong of build, both in body and face, with big cheeks and a large chin. He had three small stripes of beard, one above each side of the lips, arching down below his mouth and a small strip on his chin. His clothes were formal, yet he wore them casually, as if he had already put them away once today already and had only taken them back on out of necessity.

"What do you think of our proposal, Mayor McCoy?" the man sitting in front of the desk asked. He was younger than the big man behind the desk. Thinner too. He wore a grey business suit complete with a tie. A briefcase rested on his lap. "I am sure you will find it more than satisfying" he added, his thin mouth smiling eerily.

The large man shuddered and put down the piece of paper. "I'm afraid I cannot accept it" he said. "I simply will not take the risk."

The thin man in the suit frowned. "So be it" he said and rose. "If our offer cannot persuade you, then perhaps this can." The man suddenly produced a Poké Ball and opened it. A white mass of energy came out and took the shape of a Pokémon. The flash disappeared and a purple and black Pokémon, standing on its hind legs had appeared.

"Wait" the older man said. "What are you doing?"

"Convincing you" the thin man said with a twisted smile.

Pure horror crept over the big man's face, as the Pokémon took a step closer. "No, please" he said, sweat running down his forehead. "Stop it, I… I…" Pure panic could be heard in the man's voice now, but the man in the grey suit just smiled. A purple glow enveloped the purple and black Pokémon, before it concentrated on the two small, deep-black pearls on its head. It took a step closer and the big man grew pale and then screamed. The thin man in the grey suit just smiled.

_After an exciting 2__nd__ day of their journey, both of our trainers now have two Pokémon each. What kind of adventures await our heroes in Relyb City? And who or what is the mysterious man in grey? _

* * *

**At first, I wasn't very happy about this chapter. I didn't feel like it lived up to my own standards. However, going back and reading it after Tyhe betaread it, I found that the chapter had grown on me. I knew for a while that I wanted Casey to catch a second Pokémon as well, but I had trouble figuring out which. And even after I decided on a Corphish (because Crawdaunt), I still had to find out how and why. Using established lore, I had Corphish trying to takeover someone's territory. But for some reason, I was unhappy about it. God knows why now. The last part I added recently, probably why I was finally pleased with the chapter.  
**

**On a side note, it's a good thing that you guys can't see the map I've made for the region. Not only is it a crude Paint project that is updated as I'm going along (I've already plotted in all major towns and cities, just missing landmarks now), it also places this lake and river rather far inland, which then begs the question: How did the ocean Pokémon Corphish wander who knows how many kilometres up a river in order to find a home?**

**As always feel free to leave a comment, on what you think was good and what you thought was bad.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: ?; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Harden - Leer - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	5. The Secret of the Forest Shrine

**Whew, chapter 5 already? Feels like a semi-milestone or something. Anyway, this will be a big chapter, being at about 5000 words rather than the 3000 of the last chapters (though 5000 words is still small compared to other stories I've made). This chapter is special in many ways, and I'm rather pleased at how it turned out. At the time of writing, we've hit 97 views, almost a hundred since I launched the story Monday morning (local time).  
**

**In other news, I've added an OC submission form in my profile.**

**Now get ready for, what I think is, the best chapter so far (despite me currently writing chapter 9, though 9 ties with this).**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – The Secret of the Forest Shrine**

_Monday the 12__th__ of Silversun_

_18:33, Route 702_

"I think I see it" Casey called from the top of a hill. Tyson groaned as he climbed up towards his friend. The sun was starting to set on what had been a beautiful day. There had hardly been a cloud in the sky all day, making the weather perfect for a nice walk along the road towards Relyb City. Tyson finally reached the top of the hill and sat down.

"Is it really Relyb City?" he asked.

"If I'm reading this map right, then yes, it is" Casey replied.

"If you had read the map right we should have been here yesterday" Tyson scowled.

"Hey, I'm not the one who wanted to take a tour at that orchard yesterday" Casey replied. "Nor was I the one who insisted we took a break by a lake for a swim." Tyson looked away, slightly forlorn. "By the way, how is your leg?" Casey added, more concerned.

Tyson ran his hand over his leg and winced at the pain. The incident Casey was talking about had been earlier that same day. They had come across a beautiful lake with a few trees nearby and Tyson had suggested a break there. Casey had agreed and soon the two were swimming laps in the lake, trying to see who could last the longest. But a mean spirited Goldeen inhabited the lake and had attacked Tyson with its horn to scare them away. Casey had administered first aid, but the wound still hurt when he walked.

"It's getting a little better" Tyson said.

"Come on" Casey said, extending a hand to his friend and partner. "Just ahead is Relyb City. Once there, we'll have some dinner and if you want too, we'll find a doctor to take a look at your leg."

"It'll be fine" Tyson argued, but accepted the help to get on his feet. Together, the two boys started north towards the city.

* * *

_Monday the 12th of Silversun_

_20:45, Relyb City_

"Phew, I'm stuffed" Tyson said as he put down his fork and knife. The duo was sitting in the Trainers Lounge part of the Pokémon Center, having just finished their dinner. The diner area was fairly empty, with only a few booths occupied. When Casey and Tyson had first set foot inside the Pokémon Center, they couldn't believe how much it looked like the one in Barme Town. The same had been true for Nurse Joy, who explained that she was the older sister to the one in Barme Town. After the initial confusion, the two trainers had handed in their Pokémon for a check-up.

While the Nurse took care of their Pokémon, the two young trainers had entered the, then busy, Trainers Lounge, heading straight through the diner, which looked exactly like the one in Barme Town as well. Even the chef was big and burly. Once through the diner, they had asked the attendant about vacancies and had been able to reserve the last two rooms. The keys in their pockets, they had gone back to get something to eat. That was when Tyson had learned about the lasagna on the menu and continued to gorge himself.

"You know, you didn't have to eat three full plates of lasagna" Casey said, taking a mouthful of soda.

"What can I say" Tyson started with a shrug, "It's a favorite dish of mine."

"Every dish is a favorite dish of yours" Casey said with a smile.

"He he, true enough" Tyson laughed. "But, man, did we get here late."

"Yeah" Casey agreed. "We were lucky they had two rooms available for us." Tyson nodded and they both took a drink. They sat in silence for a little while, looking out through the window at the last few rays of direct sunshine. "Should we see if we can find a doctor?" Casey asked, indicating Tyson's leg.

"I don't think it's needed" Tyson said. "It's already a lot better, thanks to your first aid."

"I'm glad" Casey replied. "Then what do you say we go get some sleep? It's been a few long days and we need to be ready for our Gym Battle tomorrow."

"Sounds good" Tyson replied. "Let's go get our Pokémon, then go to sleep."

* * *

_Tuesday the 13th of Silversun_

_07:48, Relyb City_

The sun was already up on another beautiful day, as Casey and Tyson met outside the Pokémon Center. They had decided to get an early start on the day and were now ready to move out. Their Pokémon felt the same way, as each of them had been under Nurse Joy's best care the evening before. They had consulted Nurse Joy about the location of the Gym to which she had explained, that each Pokémon Center had a map of the town or city, with a small code that could be scanned by Pokégears, C-Gears and other such devices, including Pokédexs. Having done so, Casey kept his Pokédex out to use as a map.

"You know, that thing is actually pretty darn cool" Tyson remarked as Casey started navigating the city. The city was a far cry from Barme Town. Instead of all houses being low built, most buildings in the center of town were multi-story buildings. As the two walked through the city towards the Gym, they passed through a pedestrian zone. Despite the early hour, the zone was filled with small vendor stalls from which people were selling all kinds of stuff. One booth had a variety of necklaces; another seemed to be selling various berries.

"I wonder if there's some sort of festival or something" Tyson said, as they passed by booth after booth.

"I don't know" replied Casey. "The Pokédex only works as a map as well, not a calendar." The boys continued navigating the city and soon cleared the makeshift street-market. A while later, the boys finally found themselves in front of the Gym.

The building was large and square in appearance, with a slated roof. The walls were white, the only decoration being the windows which were placed every few meters apart. The roof was a deep black, making the air appear to shimmer. On the front of the building was a pair of glass doors, above which hung a sign, informing the reader that they were at the Relyb City Gym.

"So this is the Gym?" Tyson asked, raising an eyebrow. Casey confirmed by nodding. "I don't know, but… I expected more, somehow."

"I agree whole heartedly" Casey replied. "Well, shall we go in?" The boys opened the doors and stepped inside. The first thing the boys noticed was the counter in front. It was white, like the walls, and held a single computer monitor. Behind the counter was a revolving chair, unoccupied. The next thing they noticed was that there was not a soul in the room, besides themselves. Usually there would be a receptionist to book times for formal Gym Challenges if necessary and maybe a few trainers waiting to battle. But the room was devoid of life.

"Hello!" Casey called. "Anyone here?"

The sound of scuffling feet could be heard from the other side of a door behind the counter. The door opened, and out came a big man, ripped with muscles. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with stubbles of beard covering his face. His hair was brown and unruly, halfway covered by a light-brown jungle hat. His clothes were the same color as the hat.

"I'm sorry" the man said. "I was busy making some preparations. What can I do for you?"

"We're here to challenge the Gym Leader" said Casey.

"I see" the man said. "Of course you are, why else would you visit a Gym. Silly me, I really should know better by now."

"You mean, you're…?" Tyson started.

"That's right. My name is Bruce, the Gym Leader of this Gym" the man introduced himself. "However, I cannot accept your challenge. Not today at least."

"Huh, why not?" asked Tyson.

"Does it have something to do with what is happening in the city?" asked Casey.

"Yes and no" Bruce replied. "This week, Relyb City is holding our annual Relyb Forest Festival. It's a week-long festival, where we celebrate the spirit of the Forest Shrine. But that has nothing to do with why I cannot accept your challenge." The boys gave him a confused look. "Ah… How do I explain…? There's a group of scientists who have obtained a special permission from the mayor to investigate the Forest Shrine. Usually we can only access the Shrine once a year, the final day of the festival, but on that day there would be too many people for them to conduct their research. So I am to accompany them into the forest and look at the shrine."

"I see" Tyson sighed disappointed.

"Why don't you two come along?" Bruce asked. "If you're trainers, there may be something of interest for you as well. If nothing else, it's a once in a lifetime chance."

"He's right" Casey said to Tyson. "What do you think?"

"I think he had you hooked at spirit" Tyson said gloomy. "But I guess going into a forest could be… neat?"

"Oh, don't be like that" Casey said, then turned back to Bruce. "We'd love to come along."

"Okay" Bruce replied. "Let me go get my things and we'll be on our way."

* * *

_Tuesday the 13th of Silversun_

_09:32, Just outside Relyb Forest_

"No, no, a thousand times no!" the lead researcher said to Bruce. Bruce raised his hands and smiled nervously as if to defend himself from the verbal onslaught he had subjugated himself to. It didn't seem to work, as the scientist kept assaulting him. A little behind Bruce were Casey and Tyson, both of which had sunk down on the grassy field while the adults bickered. They had been going at it for at least five minutes now. When they had arrived, they had found the group of scientists waiting for them, gathered around several pieces of mobile equipment which neither of the boys could make heads or tails of. The lead scientist was a tall, thin man, wearing a white lab coat, as did all the researchers. He was holding a briefcase in his right hand. He had greeted them by asking who Casey and Tyson was and had frowned on the idea of them joining the small expedition, which had escalated into the argument that was still going on.

"Okay, relax" Bruce said. "Take it easy, okay?" The lead scientist frowned again, but ceased his verbal abuse. "It's quite simple, really" Bruce said, keeping his voice calm, "The kids either tag along with us or I go back and have a Gym Battle with them, postponing your research until tomorrow."

"You can't do that!" the scientist raged. "You've been hired specifically for this task."

"I can and I will" Bruce countered, a sharp edge in his voice that completely shut the lab rat up. "My duty lies first and foremost to the Champion, the Elite Four and the Gawaro League Administration. If there are challengers for my Gym, then they are my first responsibility. So unless you want to postpone your research another day, you let the boys come along." He paused, awaiting a reaction. When none came, he continued, "If you want to complain, then you can complain to the mayor. I may be hired to escort you, but I wasn't hired to neglect my duties."

The scientist was silent for a moment. "Alright, fine" he said with evident disdain. "The kids can come along." Tyson and Casey smiled. "But, they are your responsibility" he said to Bruce before walking back to his two colleagues.

"Gee, what a friendly fellow" Tyson remarked.

"Scientists are like that" Bruce said, relaxed again. "Whenever they get into something, they just can't let it go."

"Sir, I was wondering" Casey started, "What you said before, about their research being postponed another day, what did you mean?"

"Huh? Oh, that's simple" Bruce replied and explained. "Yesterday we had the exact same situation, with a kid who came here to battle me for the Gym Badge. I was actually supposed to go with the scientists then, but Mister Sunshine over there" he pointed at the scientist, "didn't want him to come along. So ultimately I walked back to the Gym with the boy and had his battle. And what a battle it was. He beat me using only a single Pokémon."

The boys gasped. "Only one Pokémon?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah" Bruce said. "I think his name was Shane? Swan? Something with an s."

"It's got to be Sean" Casey realized. Tyson clenched his hands at the memory of Sean in Barme Town.

"Yeah, that's it" Bruce said, snapping his fingers as if he had remembered it on his own. "Sean was the name. Kept talking about becoming a hero or something."

"That's definitely Sean" Casey confirmed.

"That little…" Tyson said, squaring his jaw. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna…."

"If you three are quite finished, we have a job to do" the lead scientist interrupted.

Bruce nodded. "Okay, let's go." The Relyb City Gym Leader led the way into the forest, followed by the three scientists, then came Tyson with Casey bringing up the rear. As they walked through the forest, the boys took a good look around. A lone Pineco was hanging from a pine tree a little into the forest. Overhead, a small flock of Starly flew past. A lone Weedle popped its head out from under a bush to see what was happening, but quickly ran away again. At one point Casey stopped to smell what he thought were flowers, only for them to move and reveal themselves as Bellossom.

After a short walk they reached a clearing in the woods. In the middle of the clearing was the shrine. The shrine was constructed entirely out of wood and resembled a house from the Japanese middle-ages. The outer walls were simplistically decorated with carvings, to obscure to make sense off after all the years they had been exposed to the elements. In front of the house was a small staircase, going up only a few steps to the main porch and door.

"Here we are" Bruce said, somewhat redundantly.

"Excellent" the lead scientist said, his previous hostility all but gone. "Men, let us start." His colleagues started unpacking their backpacks and set up the equipment. "While my men are working" the lead scientist said, "Is it possible we can take a look inside the shrine?"

"Inside?" Bruce asked. "I don't know about that. I wouldn't like it overly much."

"Then you are in luck, my friend" the scientist said, "You don't need to like it." He continued to produce a single sheet of paper. "As you can see here, our permit explicitly state that we are allowed to look outside and inside the shrine as much as we see fit." Bruce took the paper and read it himself. "And at the bottom is your very own mayor McCoy's signature."

"You're right" Bruce said. "You can look inside the shrine as well, though I still don't like it." Bruce walked up the small stairs and carefully opened the door, revealing the interior of the shrine for the researchers and the two boys. The inside looked far more well-preserved than the outside had done. The walls were completely flat, with several sections decorated with forest motives. Where the forest motive did not hold sway; glyphs that sort of looked like letters covered the wall's surface. The room contained only a single piece of furniture; an altar at the opposite end of the entrance. On it were two unlit candles, one to the left, one right. Behind the alter was a plate hanging on the wall, supposedly once having depicted the Pokémon the shrine was meant to honor. Oddly enough, this was the only object in the entire room that looked worn from wear.

"It's beautiful" Casey gaped.

"It's wooden" Tyson remark dryly.

"It's absolutely amazing" the scientist said, seemingly not having heard the boys. "To think that there would be such rich detail." He turned to his men and pointed to one of them. "You, search the outside area. Document everything. You." He pointed to the other guy. "You assist me inside. I want every inch of this placed photographed, filmed and documented, get it?"

"Yes, sir!" they both replied and set about to do their tasks. One of them grabbed a camera and a notebook and set to work on the outside décor; the other took some of their other machines inside, then crouched down and started taking notes as well. The lead scientist followed inside and started at the altar.

"So, what happens now?" Tyson asked.

"Now we wait" Bruce said.

"Say, what is this shrine for?" Casey asked.

"Excellent question" Bruce said with a smile. "I was afraid you would never ask."

"I was afraid he would" Tyson said with a gloomy face, but settled down as Bruce started to tell the story.

"It is said, that long ago, this forest was home to many hundred kinds of Pokémon" the Gym Leader started. "They all lived happily here, lives free from strife and fear. The city of today was just a small village then, which lived in harmony with the Pokémon of this forest, though back then they were only known as magical creatures."

"Magical?" Tyson interrupted. "They are just Pokémon, there's nothing magical over them."

"Not today, no" Bruce explained, "But back then, people had no idea what exactly they were. It is only about 50 years ago that we started calling them Pokémon."

"I think I remember that now" Casey said. "Professor Willows taught us that before the invention of Poké Balls, Pokémon had all sorts of different names."

"Um hm" Bruce agreed. "Anyway, people and Pokémon lived together here in the village and the forest. But one day strife erupted. It is no longer known what caused the battle but soon the entire village had been destroyed and the forest was aflame. Horrified by what they had done, people and Pokémon tried to put out the fire but it were too late. The fire spread quickly.

"Then suddenly, from out of nowhere, appeared a Pokémon. With its powers it managed to quench the fire and bring piece one more. Not knowing how to thank it, the people made a shrine in its honor and started to replant the woods. Each year people and Pokémon would gather to remember the Pokémon that saved them, but with each year it became harder to remember which Pokémon it was. Despite the name appearing in the shrine, no one could read it, as the mind of those who tried became clouded and they forgot it as soon as they had read it. To this day we still uphold the tradition of coming here, paying our respects to the Pokémon of old that helped us."

"What a great tale" Casey said.

"I have to admit, it was pretty good" Tyson said.

"I'm glad you liked it" Bruce said.

"Do you think that's why they are here?" Casey asked. "To see if they can find out which Pokémon it is?"

Bruce seemed to think about it for a moment. "Maybe, but I fail to see where they would have heard of it. It's just local folklore, after all."

"Oh" said Casey. "I think I'll go take a look inside."

"Enjoy yourself" Tyson said and lay down on his back, staring up at the sun.

"I will" Casey said and walked inside the shrine. The lead scientist still stood at the altar, studying the plate intensely, as if he could will the carvings back. The other scientist was crawling on the floor, looking at a row of glyphs. He was scribbling something in a notebook. Casey bent down to get a better look. "Finding anything yet?" he asked casually.

"Yes, I have" the scientist replied. "I've found that crawling like this is hurting my knees." Casey raised an eyebrow at the odd comment. "But no, our studies are going slowly."

"Oh" Casey replied. "What are you here researching?"

"We're trying to find out more about the Pokémon, which this shrine was built for" came the reply.

"Really?" Casey said interested. "Where did you learn about the story?"

"Oh, that's widely known" the man said.

"I see" Casey said. Then something occurred to him. _Wait a minute_ he thought. _Bruce said it's just local folklore, but this guy claims that it's widely known. How can that be?_ There was something about this that didn't feel right. Casey got up and walked over to the lead scientist.

"What about your work?" Casey asked him. The lead scientist eyed him from the corner of his eye, but otherwise didn't acknowledge his question. Casey looked at the plate, trying to make out anything from it.

"It no use" the scientist said, startling Casey. "You won't find anything staring at this plate. It once used to contain an image of a legendary Pokémon…" the scientist trailed off, but there was an uncanny tone in his voice that made Casey shudder.

"Sir, I think I found something!" the man crawling on the floor yelled. The lead scientist spun around and crouched down to his colleague. Casey followed suit, interested. "See this passage here? It reads something like this: 'And the Pokémon raised its head, its magnificent antlers glowing brightly.'"

"Antlers…" the lead scientist said softly. Then he smiled, a smile so thin you could barely see the lips. "This confirms it then. This is the Pokémon we're after."

"You're after?" Casey asked. "What do you mean?"

"Tsk, in all my excitement, I forgot you were here" the scientist said.

"Who are you guys?" Casey asked as he backed away. "TYSON! BRUCE! HELP!" he called before he could get a reply. Seconds later Tyson and Bruce stood in the door, both looking alarmed.

"What's going on, Casey?" Tyson asked.

"They said they were after the legendary Pokémon" Casey explained.

"I knew I didn't like you guys" Bruce said. "Fess up, who are you?"

The two scientists rose. "I suppose it's a moot point trying to keep the deception up now" the lead scientist said. "My name is Vector and I'm here to take the legendary Pokémon and use it for our own needs."

"Our?" Casey asked, but Vector ignored him.

"You see, we have long suspected that there was a connection to a legendary Pokémon within this shrine, but we had no way to access the shrine. Until now. My little meeting with the mayor a few days ago changed his mind."

"What have you done to mayor McCoy?" Bruce asked.

"Nothing much" Vector replied. "Just ensured his corporation, that's all. However, I'm afraid I cannot just let you go now." Vector gestured to his underling, who took out a Poké Ball. "Would be as kind as to keep them occupied while I search on?"

"Golbat, GO!" the man shouted as he threw a Poké Ball. It opened and a large bat with huge wings and a big mouth appeared. "Golbat, blow them out of here." Golbat flapped its wings and the group flew backwards out of the shrine. Golbat's trainer followed, leaving Vector alone. "Hey, give me a hand here" he called to his partner who had been working outside. The other guy came running over and called out a Raticate, a large brown rat with a scaly tail and lots of fur.

"We have to stop Vector!" Casey said.

"Then go" Bruce said. "Tyson and I will deal with these two."

"You sure?" Casey asked.

"Get going" Tyson cut in. He pulled out a Poké Ball. "This is the perfect opportunity to get some last minute training done." Tyson opened the Poké Ball and Corona appeared.

Casey stared at him for a second, then smiled and nodded. "Got it." He started running towards the shrine.

"Oh, no you don't" one of the grunts shouted. "Golbat, catch him."

"You should be more concerned about us" Bruce said in a voice that made both the grunt and Golbat freeze in their tracks. "Go, Zangoose!" A white creature, about a meter in height appeared. It had a red lightning-shaped mark on its body, red hands as well as a single red ear; the other was white like the rest of its body. Its black claws looked sharp and it stared at both Golbat and Raticate with such intensity that a chill crept up the goons spines. "If you send Golbat after the boy, my Zangoose is coming after you. And trust me, you don't want that." As if to illustrate his point, Zangoose lifted a sharp claw, reflecting the sun off of it.

"Then we'll go through you two!" the goons shouted.

"Bring it on" Tyson shouted and the battle began.

Casey was only marginally aware of all of this, as he hurried into the shrine. He looked bewildered around but Vector was gone. "Where has he gone?" Casey asked himself and ran across the shrine to the altar. Something was out of place, but what? Then he saw it, the plate on the wall hung a little off center. Testing his theory, Casey gently tried pushing the plate more of center. His theory proved right, as a hole appeared behind the plate. Casey cast a single glance backwards and saw Corona unleash a powerful Flame Burst at its opponents. Determined, he jumped into the hole behind, following Vector.

The path wound round and downwards. It felt longer than it could physically be. When he felt like he had run for minutes, he finally entered a small underground chamber. It looked a lot like the chamber above, only with more candles. Vector was on the far side of the room, reaching for a small ruby that seemed to glow with energy.

"Vector!" Casey shouted. The thin man turned his head, then snatched the jewel from its resting place.

"You're too late, boy" Vector said with a maniacal smile. "Now, the power is ours. Come out!" He raised the ruby upwards then hurled it towards the floor. The ruby hit the floor and cracked apart.

A flash of red appeared so powerful, that both of them had to shield their eyes. The flash subsided and they dared looking again. Where the ruby had broken, a large four-legged Pokémon had appeared. It had a round bushy tail. Its head was elongated, with a disproportionately large nose. It had large green antlers, with two brown spheres in them. Its fur had a strange green shine.

Vectors eyes narrowed as he glared at the Pokémon in front of him.

Casey took out his Pokédex and scanned the creature. "Stantler, the Big Horn Pokémon" the Pokédex read out. "The curved antlers subtly change the flow of air to create a strange space where reality is distorted. Those who stare at its antlers will gradually lose control of their senses and be unable to stand. Stantler form herds, and live in mountainous terrain."

"It's a different color from the one shown on the picture though" Casey muttered as he put away the Pokédex.

"A Stantler" Vector mused. "It may not have been what we came for, but it is clearly powerful. Go Grumpig!" Vector flung a Poké ball at the Stantler. The ball opened and a bipedal, black and purple pig appeared. It had a black pearl on its belly and two on top of its head. "Grumpig, use Psychic!" Grumpig charged up energy in its pearls then released it towards the Stantler. The green Stantler lowered its head and absorbed the Psychic with its antlers. "What?!" Vector exclaimed.

"STLER!" it cried and charged towards Vector and Grumpig. As it made contact with both, it flung them with its antlers towards where Casey was standing. Casey jumped out of the way, as Vector and Grumpig landed at the entrance to the tunnel. Stantler turned around and with force building up around it; crashed into the two, sending them flying through the tunnel.

Then it turned towards Casey. Casey looked at it apprehensively, slowly backing away. The Pokémon however, kept walking up to him slowly. Casey was backed into a corner. With nowhere to go, he curled up, trying to defend himself. But the Pokémon simply lowered its muzzle, touching him lightly on the forehead, before it turned back. Casey looked at it in wonder and slowly rose.

The Stantler was standing over the ruby. Its antlers shimmered and the pieces of the ruby started to move, reassembling the crystal. Casey simply looked on in wonder as the Stantler used its native psychic powers to repair the jewel it had rested in. When it was done, it looked back at Casey, as if to tell him something. Then it slowly faded away, until only Casey was left in the room – which now looked like it must have done before Vector got down here, he realized.

"…" Casey was at a loss for words to express what he felt. Then from above he heard angry shouting and re-awoke to reality. He headed up the passageway, which now only took mere seconds and exited the shrine.

The scene that met him outside was just as unexpected as what he had seen below. Vector and the two grunts were fleeing with Bruce in hot pursuit. Tyson was sitting on the stairs.

"What happened down there?" Tyson asked. Casey gave him a brief explanation. "A green Stantler, huh?" he said. Then he explained how he and Bruce had knocked out Golbat and Raticate just as Vector came running up. He had shouted something to the grunts and they had started to run where after Bruce had set after them. "And the best part is" Tyson finished up, "Corona has mastered a new attack. Now she can use Ember too!"

"Way to go" Casey said, congratulating them. "So, what do we do now?"

"Bruce said to wait here, so I guess we wait here" Tyson replied. Casey sat down to take a rest and so they waited.

* * *

_Tuesday the 13th of Silversun_

_17:20, Just outside Relyb City_

"I'm really sorry about all that" Bruce said to the two boys as they reached the outskirts of the city.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault" Casey said with Tyson backing him up on the statement.

"Then how about we have our Gym Battle tomorrow?" Bruce asked. "I'll fight one of you in the morning and the other after lunch."

"Sounds great" Tyson said.

"I'll see you two tomorrow then" Bruce said. The group said their goodbyes and split up, with Tyson and Casey heading to the Pokémon center and Bruce to the Gym.

_An exciting day with plenty of adventure and the promise of a Gym Battle on the morrow. But who is this Vector and who are those "we" he speaks of? Only time will tell._

* * *

**When I said before that this chapter was special in many ways, I really meant it.  
**

** - It's the first appearance of a Gym Leader, even if they don't fight him.  
**

** - It's the first calender event in the story (I'm hoping there will be more)**

** - We also see the very first Shiny Pokémon, a Stantler.**

** - Finally it marks the first real appearance of this story's antagonists.**

**For those reasons and more this chapter is special, at least to me. **

**While I have your attention, for those of you who were confused about the tunnel in the shrine (and I imagine that's a lot of you), remember that Stantler can create illusions, using its horns. While never explicitly stated in the story, Stantler had made those illusions to try and keep people from getting down to it. That's also why Casey could see through them on his way back, Stantler made him immune when it touched him. A final thing about that Stantler, it somehow used the ruby as a Poké Ball. Not quite sure how myself, but Stantler did, and that's all that matters.**

******I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it, and I'll see you all in Chapter 6 for a Gym Battle.  
**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: ?; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	6. Showdown in Relyb City

**So now we're at Chapter 6, and the first Gym Battle of the story may commence. Not much other than that going on here, though.**

**Before you read the chapter, I'm now accepting suggestions for nicknames in the comments. If a Character, such as Casey, catches a Pokémon, such as Corphish in chapter 4, you are welcome to come up with clever, inventive, funny nicknames for it. The nickname can be a corruption of the original name, a pun, something that fits the Pokédex entries and so on. I've already chosen for Corphish, but any future Pokémon are fair game (mostly because I suck at nicknaming, but shh).**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Showdown in Relyb City – Tyson versus Bruce**

_Wednesday the 14th of Silversun_

_09:02, Relyb City Gym_

The two trainers were staring each other down. On one side of the field was the Gym Leader – Bruce. Unlike yesterday, he now wore more normal clothes, a white T-shirt and a pair of blue shorts. He looked just as excited as his opponent. Tyson, who was at the other end, wore his usual dark pants and red jacket. They were standing in opposite ends of the Gym's battlefield, which was a slightly elevated platform, wide enough for two large Pokémon to stand abreast and larger still. A white Poké Ball was painted on the floor with a line through it, indicating the center of the field. Casey was standing in the audience seats, rooting for his friend.

"This will be an official match between the challenger Tyson of Nesot Village and the Gym Leader Bruce of Relyb City" the referee shouted. He was standing a little to the side of the field. "The match is fought two-on-two, with only the challenger allowed to make substitutions. Trainers, send out your first Pokémon."

"Since you're the challenger, you have the advantage of being able to counter my choice" Bruce said.

_He's probably going to pick his Zangoose_ Casey thought to himself.

"Just show me that Zangoose of yours" Tyson called. "I saw how it fought yesterday and I know I can take it."

"I'm sure you can, but Zangoose isn't my first choice" Bruce replied. "My first choice is my Jigglypuff!" As he said it, he threw a Poké Ball from which a small, pink creature appeared. Both boys gasped, visibly shocked.

"A Jigglypuff" Tyson exclaimed and checked it with his Pokédex.

"Jigglypuff, the Balloon Pokémon" the Pokédex read out, though unlike Casey's, this one had a male voice. "Jigglypuff's vocal chords can freely adjust the wavelength of its voice. This Pokémon uses this ability to sing at precisely the right wavelength to make its foes most drowsy. When this Pokémon sings, it never pauses to breathe. If it is in a battle against an opponent that does not easily fall asleep, Jigglypuff cannot breathe, endangering its life."

"Alright, then I choose Clamper" Tyson said and threw the Poké Ball. It opened and Clamper, the Karrablast Tyson had caught on the first day, appeared.

"The Gym Leader is starting with his Jigglypuff, while the challenger has chosen a Karrablast" the referee declared. "The first move goes to the challenger. Trainers, begin the match."

"Alright, Clamper, we're up first" Tyson said. "Let's start out with a Peck, shall we?" Karrablast started to run towards its opponent, energy building around its mouth.

"Jigglypuff, use Defence Curl" Bruce commanded and the pink Pokémon curled up, bracing itself against Clamper's attack. The attack connected, but didn't do much damage. "Now, before it can get away, use Pound." Jigglypuff unfolded and flung a small, stubby arm at Clamper.

"Dodge it" Tyson yelled. Clamper tried but was to slow. The small arm hit Clamper, knocking it out of its jump. Clamper managed to get a hold of itself fast and found its footing. "Alright, counter with Peck."

"Jigglypuff, get in there!" Bruce called. The two small Pokémon went at it again and started to brawl. Jigglypuff kept trying to land a successful Pound while Clamper aimed at the opposition with its energy beak.

_It's not too effective but it's ridiculously cute_ Casey thought as he watched the two Pokémon struggle about. _But still, that guy and a Jigglypuff? I never saw that coming._

"Alright, time for another approach" Tyson said. "Clamper, use Leer!" Clamper jumped backwards and stared the Jigglypuff dead in the eyes, which started to quiver.

"Don't let it get to you, Jigglypuff" Bruce called back. "Use Rollout to take it down."

_That's no good_ Casey thought. _Not only is Rollout a Rock-type move, which is super effective against a Bug-type like Clamper. But since it used Defense Curl not so long ago, the power of Rollout is doubled._ Then he shouted: "Tyson, you can't be hit by this one!"

"I know!" Tyson called back. "Clamper, try and dodge it as it comes rolling towards you." The Jigglypuff was rolling towards the Karrablast, who jumped aside just in the nick of time. But Jigglipuff simply made a swift turn and was soon aiming right at Karrablast again. Clamper dodged once more, only to have Jigglypuff turn around again. _What do I do?_ he thought. _Clamper doesn't have any ranged attacks, so I have to get close to it. But as long as it's just rolling along I can't do anything._ Clamper jumped again and Jigglypuff raced by underneath. "Hang in there, Clamper" Tyson called, as clamper dodged the fourth roll. Jigglypuff came about for the final roll. Clamper waited until just in the nick of time to jump away. Jigglypuff continued past, then stopped rolling and unfurled itself, looking a little dazed from all the spinning. "Now's our chance" Tyson called to Clamper. "Use Peck!" The Karrablast threw itself towards the small pink balloon and placed a well-aimed Peck in its backside.

"Nice job" Bruce said. "Using the few seconds my Pokémon had its guard down, to deliver an attack, is quite impressive."

"Thanks" Tyson said, "But I'm not done yet. Clamper, use Leer!" Clamper stared meanly at the Jigglypuff. "Now Peck!" Clamper came in close for another attack.

"Rollout!" Bruce called.

"Oh no!" Tyson exclaimed. Clamper had no time to dodge, as Jigglypuff started its spin, with Clamper far too close to dodge. Instead, the small Bug-type was flung backwards from the force of the impact, with the Jigglypuff closing in fast. "Dodge it, Clamper." Clamper hurled itself to the side and got away, but Jigglypuff turned sharper than before and hit Clamper before he had time to dodge again. Once more Clamper was flung away. "Clamper, are you okay?" Tyson called. The Pokémon staggered to its legs, panting. "Do you want to take a break?" Clamper shook its head, focusing intensely on the incoming Jigglypuff. "Okay" Tyson said. "I believe in you, Clamper." The Jigglypuff was coming closer but this time the small Bug-type made no effort to dodge it. Instead, it raised its small, stubby arms and stood its ground. Jigglypuff hit it and Karrablast dug its feet into the ground, a yellow glow forming around it. "What is that?" Tyson asked, as Clamper struggled to hold the spinning Jigglypuff in place.

"Tyson, I think that's Endure!" Casey shouted from the stands. "It allows a Pokémon to take a hit that would otherwise have knocked it out."

"So my little guy is still in the fight?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah" Casey called back. "But it means that Clamper is very weak now."

"I know" Tyson muttered, then raised his voice. "You can do it, Clamper. Throw that balloon away!" Summoning all the strength it had left, the small bug raised both arms, catapulting Jigglypuff into the air. "Now Peck!" Clamper launched itself at the Jigglypuff, energy forming a beak around its mouth. The two Pokémon collided and Jigglypuff was flung even further back. It landed and lay still.

"Jigglypuff is unable to battle" the referee declared. "The winner is Karrablast."

"Yeah, one down, one to go!" Tyson shouted.

"You did well on beating my Jigglypuff" Bruce said as he recalled the balloon Pokémon. "But let's see how you fare against this. Go, Zangoose." Bruce threw a Poké Ball which opened and let out his red and white Zangoose, who immediately struck a pose.

"I knew that was coming" Tyson said and aimed his Pokédex at the Zangoose.

"Zangoose, the Cat Ferret Pokémon" the male voice read out. "Zangoose usually walks on all fours, but stands on its hind legs when angry. It's very quick and can easily dodge most enemy attacks."

"So it's a quick one, huh?" Tyson grinned as he put away his Pokédex. "Alright, Clamper use Peck." Clamper started to run towards the opponent.

"Zangoose, use Quick Attack!" Bruce called and Zangoose sped towards the Karrablast with high speed, leaving a white trail behind it.

"Clamper, look out!" Tyson called but the opponent was too fast for poor Clamper. Zangoose smashed into Clamper's front, sending it flying. It landed heavily on the ground and skidded to a stop.

"Karrablast is unable to battle" the ref declared. "Zangoose is the winner."

"Return, Clamper" Tyson said and held out the Poké Ball. The return beam hit the small Bug-type which dissolved into energy and was sucked back in the Poké Ball. "You did really well, Clamper" Tyson whispered, before finding Corona's Poké Ball. He whipped it into the air, shouting: "Go, Corona!" The sphere opened and released Tyson's Torchic.

"Torchic tor" it chirped happily.

"Trainers, continue!" the ref called, resuming the match.

"Alright" Tyson said, "Let's start with an Ember attack, Corona!" Corona took a deep breath and spat a series of small fireballs towards Zangoose.

"That's nothing, Zangoose" Bruce called. "You can deflect that with your claws." Zangoose gave a grunt, then showed its claws and battered at the incoming Ember, sending small specks of fire this way and that.

"Alright, new strategy" Tyson said. "Let's get in close and use Scratch!" Corona stopped its attack and started running on small legs towards Zangoose.

_Bad idea, Tyson_ Casey thought. _Zangoose has the advantage in close combat. You need to stick to attacking from a distance._

"Zangoose, you use scratch as well" Bruce called. Zangoose acknowledged his command and ran at Torchic. The cat ferret flung its arm out and managed to hit Torchic, who was flung away. "Zangoose, don't let it get away. Use Quick Attack!"

"Zan!" Zangoose grunted and sped towards Torchic.

"Corona, use Flame Burst, quick!" Corona opened its eyes and saw the incoming Zangoose. Taking a quick breath, she shot out a small ball of flame.

"Goo?" Zangoose said before smashing into the fireball. With a cry, Zangoose was blown backwards.

"Yeah, we're still in this!" Tyson rejoiced as Corona landed on the ground. Zangoose picked itself up from the ground and stared at them.

"Not bad" the Gym Leader commended. "You have clearly raised your Torchic well."

"Thanks" Tyson replied with a grin.

"Now let's see you counter this" Bruce said. "Zangoose, use Slash!" Zangoose bared its claws and rushed towards Corona.

"Corona, counter with Ember!" Tyson shouted. But instead of shooting out a stream of small fireballs, the little orange chicken started to glow until it was surrounded by a blue aura of energy. "What's that?" asked Tyson.

"Tyson, I think that's Focus Energy!" Casey called from the spectator seats.

"Focus Energy?" Tyson asked, still bewildered.

"It's a move which makes it easier for you to land critical hits" Casey explained.

"Wow, that's great" Tyson said. The aura disappeared and Corona flung out it small wings in a defiant gesture. "Alright, time to try again. Corona, use Ember!" Corona took a deep breath and spew out a series of small fires at the incoming Zangoose. But Zangoose just tore through them, seemingly unhurt. "What?!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Torchic?" Corona chirped and broke off its attack. Zangoose, however, was nowhere near as merciful, as it reached Corona and gave a mighty slash with its claws. Corona cried in pain as it was thrown backwards. She skidded to a stop and stared towards her opponent, panting heavily.

"That's strange" Bruce said. "I was sure that would knock out your Torchic. So why didn't it?" Just then Zangoose sank down on one knee, holding its right arm with its left claw. "I see" Bruce said.

"Could you explain it to me then?" Tyson asked, not knowing what had happened.

Before Bruce could say anything, Casey started to explain. "Zangoose has been burned. Ember has a small chance of burning its target, though the chances of it happening are slim."

"That's right" Bruce picked up, "And what's more, a Pokémon suffering from a burn suffers from a drop in its attack power."

"So Corona and I were saved by the burn?" Tyson asked. Casey groaned at the pun but confirmed what Tyson had said.

"You're quite lucky, my young friend" Bruce said with a smile. "But it's time to end this. Zangoose, use Slash!" Zangoose launched itself towards the Torchic, its right arm raised to strike.

"Corona, use Flame Burst and give it all you got!" Corona breathed in and started to glow a soft red. Both Tyson and Casey gasped as Corona spew out a huge blast of fire, several time larger than normal. A trail of flames followed behind it.

"Zagoo!?" Zangoose shouted in panic at the incoming attack.

"Is that what I think it is?" Casey asked from the stands.

"I think so" Bruce said. "That must be Torchic's Blaze ability."

"So this is the power of Blaze…" Tyson said amazed.

With the large burst of fire closing in on it, Zangoose did what it could to get away, by jumping to the right. But the jump was far too late for a blast of fire that size and Zangoose took it straight on. The blast exploded and Zangoose was flung through the air and landed on the ground next to Bruce.

"Zangoose is unable to battle" the ref declared. "The winner of this match is Torchic and the winner of the battle is the challenger, Tyson."

"I won" Tyson said, the sensation not quite having sunk in yet. "I really won."

"Nice job, Tyson" Casey shouted as he ran from the spectator seats to his friend.

"You were great, Corona" Tyson said, as the little chicken ran towards him. Tyson caught her and gave her a big hug. "Now take a good long rest, okay?" Corona agreed and Tyson withdrew her.

On the other side of the field, Bruce had withdrawn his Pokémon and was now walking over to Tyson. "That was a great battle" the Gym Leader said. "You and your Pokémon were really great. But try not to rely on power, and luck, so much in the future, okay?" he said with a smile.

"I will" Tyson said and nodded.

"Then allow me to present you with this Basis Badge" Bruce said and handed Tyson the badge. The badge was small and white in color and resembled a 'Y' in form. "This badge represents the beginning of your journey" Bruce explained. "Right now, you're on a path. Where that path leads you is unknown, but the path is yours to take."

"Thanks" Tyson said. Then he jumped and punched the hand the held the badge into the air. "YEAH! I got a Basis Badge!" he shouted.

"And I haven't forgotten my promise to you either" Bruce said to Casey. "We'll battle after lunch, just as soon as my Pokémon are ready again."

"Right!" Casey confirmed.

* * *

_Wednesday the 14th of Silversun_

_11:00, ?_

Vector walked through a pair of large, wooden doors and closed them behind him. He quickly scanned the room and though it was dark in there, he saw that the others had already arrived. He walked over to the table in the middle of the room and sat down, taking the only vacant seat.

"How did you fare in Relyb Forest?" one of the persons around the table asked him.

"I believe you already know that" Vector said calmly. "I succeeded in documenting a lot of things about the Forest Shrine. We now have pictures, videos and notes of both the outside and the inside. I have handed it all over to our analysts, which are looking over the data now."

"Good" the same person said again. "And what of the legendary Pokémon that was said to inhabit the shrine?"

"As it turns out" Vector said, a calm smile on his lips, "It was nothing but a Stantler."

"Must be quite the Stantler to give you and your Grumpig a run for your money" another person said gleefully. Vector looked at the speaker, but didn't react.

"Silence, Alit" the first person spoke again. "Tell us about the Stantler."

"It was what Pokémon Professors have coined a 'Shiny' version of the Pokémon" Vector said. "It was strong, yes, but not enough to warrant us going after it again. After all, while it was powerful it was not near the power that we expect to find in the legendary Pokémon."

There was silence in the room as the others digested what he had said. It was the same person as before who finally broke the silence. "Very well. Vector, you did what we sat out to do. Go and oversee the analysis of the data. Alit, since you clearly think you can do a better job, I think you should be the one to investigate the rumors near Pirepsah City."

_Just who is this Vector and who were he talking to? And how will Casey's Gym Challenge go?_

* * *

**I don't quite know what I decided to have Tyson take the challenge before Casey, but I did. I guess it just made more sense that way, considering how I wanted the dialogue to go.**

**As I said in the beginning, there wasn't much progress in this chapter. There was a little here in the end concerning Vector and company, but not a lot. And next chapter we have Casey making his attempt at the Gym, so you can guess the amount of progress there as well. Though I suppose we need those sort of chapters once in a while where there's not a lot happening. I mean, chapter 1 and 2 had some action, with chapter 3 breaking it up. Then 4 and 5 also had a lot of action, which is followed by the slightly lowered-paced 6 and 7. And with what I've planned for 8, 9 and 10, then we can use this low-paced part.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: ?; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	7. Conquering the Relyb City Gym

**Chapter 7 and yet another Gym Battle. In all fairness, you were warned, and even if you hadn't been, you could probably have guessed it was coming. I don't know which Gym Battle I'm the most fond of, but I'd like to hear what you think.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Conquering the Relyb City Gym – Casey versus Bruce**

_Wednesday the 14__th__ of Silversun_

_12:30, Relyb City Gym_

Casey was standing at the very same battlefield where Tyson had stood only hours before. On the other side was the same opponent, the Gym Leader Bruce. Casey looked at his opponent. At first, Bruce came across as carefree, even now as he was about to have an official match. But behind that carefree demeanor was a ruthlessly efficient fighter. Casey had seen so for himself in Tyson's match earlier.

He cast a glance up at the spectator seats where he found Tyson in the same place as he himself had been cheering. Tyson smiled at him and gave him a thumps-up. Casey nodded and returned his gaze to Bruce.

_Man, what a pressure_ Casey thought. _I wonder if Tyson felt the same way. I'm really nervous about this. No, no need to be nervous. After all, I have the advantage. He has Jigglypuff and Zangoose and I know how they fight._

"This will be an official match between the challenger Casey of Nesot Village and the Gym Leader Bruce of Relyb City" the referee shouted. Like before, he was standing a little to the side of the field. "The match is fought two-on-two, with only the challenger allowed to make substitutions. Trainers, send out your first Pokémon."

_Here it comes_ Casey thought.

"I choose you, Zangoose!" Bruce called and released the red and white Cat Ferret Pokémon.

"Say what?" Tyson shouted while Casey was too taken aback to say anything.

"You didn't expect me to use the exact same strategy, did you?" Bruce asked with an innocent smile.

"Actually, I kind of did" Casey said, before cooling himself with a deep breath. "I choose Ruffer!" Casey whipped his Poké Ball into the air and out came the Corphish he had caught a few days before.

"The Gym Leader is starting with his Zangoose, while the challenger has chosen a Corphish" the referee declared. "The first move goes to the challenger. Trainers, begin the match."

"Alright, let's do this" Casey said. "Ruffer, use Bubble!" Corphish shot out a stream of clear blue bubbles from its mouth aimed directly at Zangoose.

"Zangoose, use scratch to deal with the bubbles!" Bruce called and Zangoose brought up a claw and scratched at the bubbles, bursting them before they could do any damage.

"Ruffer, go to the right and use bubble again!" Casey called, his nervousness from before gone, instead replaced by the thrill of battle. Ruffer jumped to the right and fired another stream of large blue bubbles which headed towards Zangoose as well.

"We'll just break those too" Bruce said. "Zangoose, prepare to pop the other bubbles as well." Zangoose barely had time to acknowledge the command before the new series of bubbles assaulted it.

"Back in front and use Bubble again!" Casey called. Corphish did as it was told and launched more bubbles towards its opponent, keeping up the assault.

"Just what is he planning?" Tyson wondered as he watched the battle unfold down on the field.

"Now Ruffer, go to the left and close in with ViceGrip!" Corphish happily jumped to the left and ran towards the Zangoose on its small legs.

"Zangoose, look out!" Bruce called. Zangoose took its eyes off the bubbles for just a moment to see that Corphish was running towards it. It moved a claw to defend from the attack, but quickly moved it back to prevent a cluster of bubbles to impact it. Corphish launched itself at Zangoose and got a good grip on the tail. Zangoose screamed in pain. As it did, it let down its guard and the remaining bubbles got a good hit.

"Alright, both attacks worked!" Casey said triumphantly as Corphish let go of the opponent and jumped back to Casey.

"Not bad" Bruce said. "Setting a trap with Bubble and then closing in with ViceGrip was a really good strategy, Casey."

"Thanks, though I didn't expect both attacks would hit" Casey replied.

"Then you're lucky as well" Bruce smiled.

_He's awfully happy about Casey doing well_ Tyson thought. _Was he like that when I was battling him? And why is he happy that he's losing in the first place?_

"Alright, now let's see what you'll do when I counter-attack" Bruce said. "Zangoose, use Quick Attack."

"Quick, Ruffer. Harden!" Casey shouted as Zangoose went into a crouch. Ruffer brought its big pincers up in a defensive stance and braced itself. But unlike in the previous battle, Zangoose's Quick Attack didn't leave nearly the same trail of light behind, nor was it speeding along as quickly.

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked confused.

Casey looked at the incoming Zangoose, before it dawned on him. "It's the added effect of bubble" Casey said. "Look how Zangoose's fur is all wet? The water is slowing it down." Both Bruce and Tyson looked at Zangoose and saw that Casey was right. The fur on Zangoose was glistening as light refracted on the water droplets that clung to its fur. As they looked, Zangoose finally impacted on Ruffer, though the attack didn't seem quite as powerful as when it had been used on Corona.

"You said something about a counter-attack?" Casey smirked.

"We're just getting started, kid" Bruce replied. "Zangoose, use Fury Cutter!" Zangoose raised and arm and the claws began to shine with a light green hue. It brought its arm down towards the Corphish which was still defending itself. The attack connected but didn't seem to do much damage.

_Well, that was effective_ Tyson thought sarcastically.

"Ruffer, you okay?" Casey asked.

"Corphish Cor" it replied energetically.

"Alright then" Casey said. "Use ViceGrip, now." Corphish shot a pincer out towards Zangoose.

"Counter with Fury Cutter" Bruce called. Zangoose quickly charged the attack and flung it down, knocking Ruffer's attack out of the way.

"Use Bubble, quickly!" Casey called, the slightest hint of panic in his voice.

"Zangoose, jump back!" Bruce commanded. Zangoose jumped backwards just as Ruffer released a stream of blue bubbles. "Now use Fury Cutter to pop the bubbles!" Zangoose's claws glowed again and it quickly dispatched the bubbles.

_Not good_ Casey thought. _Fury Cutter gets stronger and stronger the more times it's used in battle._

"Zangoose, close in with Fury Cutter" Bruce called. Zangoose started to run towards Ruffer.

"Ruffer, Harden and quickly!" Casey shouted frantically. Corphish brought its pincers back up and tightened its muscles even more. But even so, the attack still hit hard. Ruffer was knocked back a little and panted as it lowered its pincers. _Ruffer is hurt_ Casey thought. _But I can't switch now, not with Fury Cutter this powerful. I need a comeback and fast._

"It seems like I have the advantage now" Bruce said. "So what will you do now, Casey?"

"I'll defeat you, that's what I will do" Casey said defiantly. "Ruffer, use Leer!" Ruffer shot Zangoose and evil glare. Despite Ruffers weakened state, Zangoose still shuddered a little before it shook its head and focused on the battle again.

"You can look all you want, but you may want to avert your gaze from this" Bruce said. "Zangoose, use Fury Cutter."

"Ruffer, Harden!" Casey shouted. _Let's just hope Ruffer has enough energy left to take it_ he thought. The opposing Zangoose came hurling at the Corphish and brought down a green-glowing claw. As the attack connected, Ruffer struggled valiantly to stay in place. "Alright" Casey said. "Looks like we're still in it, so let's win it. Ruffer, use ViceGrip." Before Zangoose could move away, Ruffer shot out a pincer and squeezed tight, causing the Zangoose to scream in pain. "Follow it up with Bubble and end this!" Ruffer breathed in, then unleashed a string of blue bubbles, hitting Zangoose squarely in the chest with both power and speed. Letting go of the Zangoose, the power of the impact sent Zangoose flying. It landed, skidding across the ground, tried to get up and fell again. The remaining bubbles fell to the ground.

"Zangoose is unable to battle" the referee declared. "The winner is Corphish."

"Nice job, Ruffer" Casey said. "You deserve a good rest." Casey recalled his Pokémon and put the Poké Ball away.

"Nice job on beating my Zangoose" Bruce said as he recalled his Pokémon. "But I have yet to see how you will handle my Jigglypuff." Bruce took his second Poké Ball and the Jigglypuff was released.

"Twurt, I'm counting on you" Casey said and sent out his next Pokémon. The green turtle gave an energetic cry as it landed on the battlefield.

"The challenger is ahead with 1-0" the referee declared. "The match continues."

"Alright, let's get the first move, Twurt" Casey urged. "Use Seed Bomb!" The turtle acknowledged his command and started gathering energy at the sapling. It quickly gathered enough energy and fired a yellowish-green projectile towards Jigglypuff.

"Don't just sit there, Jigglypuff" Bruce said. "Use Defence Curl, quickly." Jigglypuff did as it was told and curled into a small tight ball. Twurt's attack impacted with Jigglypuff, who rolled backwards but appeared unhurt.

"Tsk, then we'll try another strategy" Casey said. "Twurt, close in with Tackle."

"Turtwig!" Twurt replied and started running towards Jigglypuff.

"Jigglypuff, let's counter that with Rollout" Bruce called. Jigglypuff started spinning in place, before launching itself towards Twurt.

"Take it straight on and knock that ball away!" Casey called. Twurt grunted and sped up a little. The two Pokémon collided. The force of the impact sent them both flying in opposite directions, towards their own trainers. Both Pokémon landed on their feet and skidded to a stop.

"Nice counter, kid" Bruce said.

"Thanks" Casey replied. "But we're not done yet. Twurt, Tackle again!" Twurt burst into a run towards Jigglipuff. It quickly covered the distance and was about to strike Jigglypuff, when Bruce gave his next command.

"Jigglypuff, Sing." The pink balloon starting singing a soft and soothing melody. Twurt, who was almost next to Jigglipuff, slowed down and fell forward, eyes closed.

"What happened?" asked Tyson bewildered from the stands.

"It's simply the effect of Sing" Bruce started to explain. "Sing is a move, which puts all those who hears it asleep. The closer to the user the target is, the higher the chance of the target falling asleep. If Casey's Turtwig had been on the other side of the field, there's a chance it wouldn't have worked, and my secret weapon would have been wasted."

"Secret weapon?" Casey asked.

"Yes" Bruce said flatly and then explained once more, a passion in his voice. "You see, a Gym Leader's job isn't just to have a Pokémon Battle and award a badge when the challenger wins. It's also about testing the trainer and seeing how they respond to the unexpected. When Tyson and I fought the goons at the shrine yesterday, I learned that he had a very aggressive battling style, which he proved in our battle earlier today. For that purpose I decided to go with Jigglypuff as my leading Pokémon to see how he would react to techniques like Defense Curl and Rollout, followed by my stronger Zangoose to meet muscle with muscle.

"Since you watched our match, I decided to lead with the powerful Zangoose instead, throwing your expectations to the wind and giving you a strong and powerful surprise. The way you used your Corphish proved that it was a good call, as you defended well with your techniques. I suppose you could say that one of you use your brain while the other uses his brawns. And that's what a Gym Leader has to test, how well you react to both a similar and an opposite training style."

Tyson gazed at the badge in his hand. "So that's why it's shaped like a 'Y'" he said. "It's a fork in the road, showing that two different ways comes from the same original idea."

"You're on to it" Bruce said and smiled.

"I see" Casey said. "Thank you." Bruce looked at him with a strange look in his eyes. "If it wasn't for all that explaining, you could have done a lot of damage to Twurt. But now," Casey finished with a smirk, "He must be about to wake up."

"You're right!" Bruce exclaimed, suddenly brought back to the battle at hand. "How did I forget? Jigglypuff, Pound." Jigglypuff, who seemed happy to finally get another command, slapped the Turtwig, causing it to spin around.

"Twurt, wake up" Casey said, clenching his fists.

"Before it awakes, use Rollout" Bruce commanded. "Jigglypuff curled up and started spinning in place, then rolled towards the defenseless turtle. It hit and the impact sent Twurt skidding across the floor. Jigglypuff came about and rolled towards Twurt, faster this time.

"Please, Twurt. Wake up!" As if the Turtwig had heard his owner, the turtle awoke from its slumber and shook its head. "Quick, dodge it" Casey shouted. But Twurt wasn't quite awake yet and jumped a second too late, taking the attack on its side. The Turtwig landed on its feet, panting. "Twurt, are you okay?" Casey asked.

"Twig" the Grass-type panted.

Meanwhile, Jigglypuff turned around and rolled towards Twurt, picking up speed for every second. "Dodge it!" Tyson called. But Turtwig shook its head instead, standing firm. "You want to take it head on?" Casey asked.

"Twi!" Twurt replied.

"Then let's try this. Use Seed Bomb" Casey shouted. Turtwig summoned its strength and gathered energy at its sapling and fired it straight away at the incoming Jigglypuff. The blow caused Jigglipuff to fly into the air.

"What's this?" Bruce asked surprised. From the stands Tyson simply followed the now airborne Jigglypuff, knowing that the battle was coming to a close.

"Seed Bomb, once more" Casey shouted. But instead of gathering energy at the sapling like usual, the small green turtle glowed a light green and shot a whip of green energy at Jigglypuff. The energy whip locked around Jigglypuff and started to glow. "What's this?" Casey asked as Twurt seemed to breathe a little easier and recover its strength.

"Absorb" Tyson said. "To think that Twurt would decide to show of its new move now, of all times."

"Absorb" Casey repeated. "That's great. Feeling better, Twurt?"

"Turtwig!" Twurt said energetically and released the energy whip.

"Then let's finish this" Casey said. "Use Seed Bomb!" This time Twurt did as asked and summoned a mass of energy and released a yellow-green projectile at the descending Jigglypuff.

"Jigglypuff!" Bruce called but there was nothing he could do. The attack impacted with his Pokémon and it was knocked away. It landed heavily on the ground, sliding only a little before stopping. A few seconds passed where Jigglypuff didn't move.

"Jigglypuff is unable to battle" the referee said. "The winner is Turtwig and the victory of the match goes to the challenger Casey."

"Really well fought, Casey" Bruce said and recalled his Pokémon, then walked over to him. "I believe this belongs to you now." Bruce held out another of the Y-shaped badges.

"Thanks" Casey said as he accepted the badge. "Yeah, I got a Basis Badge!" he shouted, holding his arm in the air.

"Congrats" Tyson said as he approached from the sidelines.

"Thanks" Casey smiled.

"Where are you two boys headed next?" Bruce asked them.

"Wherever the next Gym Battle is" Tyson replied with a grin.

"Then I would suggest you go to Pirepsah City" Bruce replied. "It's to the north-west of here, through the Goma Passage in the Goma Mountains."

"Then that's where we'll go" Casey said. "But let's wait until tomorrow."

"Good call" Tyson said. "I wouldn't mind another night of free food before going back to rations again." The group laughed.

* * *

_Wednesday the 14__th__ of Silversun_

_13:30, ?_

Alit made his way through the hallways in the huge building that was their headquarters. He was still fuming from the perceived insult at the meeting hours earlier and took long strides, as if to walk off his anger. He was heading for the elevator to take him down to the basement. He had already selected the members of the organization he wanted to accompany him to Pirepsah City and investigate the rumors there. It required them to go undercover, much like Vector had just been, but then, that was how they operated. Undercover. Working from the shadows. Gently tugging at the strings of destiny. Or so their leader claimed. Alit wasn't quite convinced about the finer aspects of their operation, he only knew they were after rare and powerful Pokémon, which was another reason for why he didn't understand why they shouldn't catch that rare Stantler.

He reached the elevator and entered, punching in the button for the Parking Basement. As the doors closed his thoughts circled about his assignment. "There has been rumors of a powerful flying Pokémon in the vicinity of Diving Cliffs, near Pirepsah City" the leader had told him after Vector had left to oversee the analysis of the shrine data. "The Diving Cliffs lies to the north of the harbor town of Pirepsah City. I trust that I can rely on you to keep your temper in check for this mission." Alit smashed his right hand into the walls of the elevator. How dared anyone imply that he lost his temper; that he couldn't keep cool?

The doors opened and Alit stepped into the basement, greeted by a squadron of five goons. "You all know our orders" Alit began. "To investigate the rumors surrounding the Diving Cliffs. And unlike Vector, I expect to see results." The men saluted him and they all climbed into a truck and drove off.

_As our heroes prepare to venture towards Pirepsah City, so too does Vector's companion, Alit. How will their fates intertwine in the coastal city?_

* * *

**That was chapter 7, which signals that we have reached the end of the first story arc of the story. In lack of a better name for the arc I've dubbed it 'Relyb City Arc' in my notes, as all events have been centred about getting there. Next time we're setting our sights on Pirepsah City and what a journey that will be.  
**

**I know I didn't describe Alit that well yet, but the savvy reader will know that it will come in good time. For now, just picture him however you want.**

**So what are your thoughts on the story so far? What do you like? What don't you like? How were the Gym battles? I'm not sure if they were to easily won or if the difficulty seemed right. As always, I'm counting on you, the readers, to let me know what you think.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	8. A Tag-Team Encounter

**This is it, chapter 8 and the beginning of a whole new Story Arc, in my notes known as 'Pirepsah City Arc'. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. The next few chapters are going to be very interesting, not just to write, but hopefully also to read.**

**I'm still accepting OC's - both in general but also more immediately for an event mentioned in this chapter. Submitted OC's: 1. Used OC's: 0.**

* * *

**Chapter 8 – A Tag-Team Encounter**

_Thursday the 15__th__ of Silversun_

_10:02, Route 703_

Casey and Tyson were walking along route 703 on the road to Pirepsah City. The sun was shining bright from its high place in the sky, as it was wont to do in the summer. Only a few single white clouds drifted lazily by overhead. A flock of Spearow chirped as they took flight from a tree and headed east. The road ahead of them was long, but being creatures of the air, not many obstacles stood in their way. The route currently winded along a cornfield to their left and a meadow to their right. Every now and again a few bird Pokémon dived from the sky to snatch at the crops. Adult Miltank and Tauros could be seen grassing on the meadow, with smaller calves amongst them.

Ahead the route left the cornfields and meadows, to be replaced by regular grasslands with trees and bushes along the road. As they walked amongst the greenery, the boys saw a small group of Deerling grassing on the field. Tyson ran towards them to try and catch one but the Deerling turned around and ran away faster than Tyson could follow. When he returned to the road, he found Casey with a Wurmple nested in his hair. The boys walked on, leaving the Wurmple to sleep a little, before putting it down near a tree, from which there hung a few Silcoon.

The boys continued down the road. Though it was a long way to Goma Passage, their first destination on the road to Pirepsah City, they were in high spirits. They had won their first Gym Badge the day before and had even been praised by the Gym Leader. As such, the two boys were in a hurry to get to their next Gym.

"You two, lookout!" a cry came from ahead. Casey and Tyson looked up and saw a large butterfly heading towards them, tumbling through the air. Casey quickly jumped aside but Tyson was a second to slow and caught the tumbling Pokémon in the chest. The force of the impact knocked him over and he fell, landing on his backside.

"Ouch" Tyson grunted as he sat up and rubbed his back.

"Are you okay?" Casey asked and reached down to remove the Pokémon from Tyson. The Pokémon was a rather large butterfly with two pairs of veined, white wings. It had small blue hands and feet attached to a dark, purple body. A pair of large, red eyes stared back at Casey as he examined it. Two antennae protruded from the top of its head. A small blue nose sat a little under the eyes, with two teeth shoving from its mouth directly below the nose.

"Free" it replied happily.

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking" Tyson mumbled from the ground.

"Are you okay down there?" a cry came from atop the hill they were about to climb. Casey and Tyson looked up and saw a young boy waving at them. He was younger than them and was visibly distressed at what had happened. He was wearing an orange T-shirt and a pair of blue shorts.

"We're fine" Casey called. Tyson mumbled something that Casey didn't quite catch as he got up again. "Is this your Pokémon?" Casey shouted, holding up the butterfly.

"Yes it is" the boy shouted back. Casey let go of the butterfly and it flew back up to its trainer.

"Are you okay, Tyson?" Casey asked his friend.

"Oh, I'm feeling great" Tyson growled. "Nice of you to help me up and everything."

Casey laughed nervously. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Anyway, what is that Pokémon" Tyson asked as they made their way up the hill towards the boy.

"It's a Butterfree" Casey said. Tyson found his Pokédex and looked it up.

"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon" the Pokédex read out loud. "Butterfree is the evolved form of Metapod. The scales covering its wings help it to shed water. In battle, it flaps its wings at high speed, releasing highly toxic dust into the air. It loves the honey of flowers and can locate flower patches that have even tiny amounts of pollen."

"So it can release toxins" Tyson muttered as he put away the Pokédex. "Nasty little critter." The two finally reached the top.

"Thanks again for catching my Butterfree, mister" the boy said, bowing to Tyson.

"Oh, uh, you're welcome" Tyson said, scratching the back of his head, cheeks blushing.

"I'm really, really sorry my Butterfree just came at you like that" the boy said. "You see, my friend and I were training, trying to get our Pokémon to battle well together."

"Why's that?" asked Tyson, not unfriendly.

"We heard that there's going to be held a Tag Team Tournament in Pirepsah City" the young boy explained again. "And even though we can't go because we're too young, we thought it would be cool to get our Pokémon in sync."

"A tournament" Casey said.

"Yeah, but what's a Tag-battle?" Tyson asked. Casey and the boy stared at him, a look of disbelief on their faces.

"A Tag-Battle is like a regular battle, only there are two trainers on each side, with each trainer commanding one Pokémon at a time" Casey explained.

"I see" Tyson said.

"But as you can probably tell, we're not doing too well" the boy said again.

"You seem a little young to be a trainer" Casey pointed out. While it was not unheard off that trainers in other regions started their journey already at the age of 10, the common practice in Gawaro was around the age of 15. The boy in front of them could be no older than 9.

"I'm not and my friend isn't either" the boy replied. "I haven't really caught Butterfree, I just became friends with it when it was a Caterpie."

"Where is your friend, by the way?" Casey asked, looking around for another boy.

"This way, I'll show you" the boy said and started leading them over the field and to a small cluster of trees. There they found another boy, about the same height and age as the first. "This is my friend, Nate" the boy said. "I'm Danny, by the way."

"Hello Danny" Casey said. "My name is Casey and this is my friend Tyson." He gestured at Tyson who waved a hello. "We're Pokémon trainers from Nesot Village."

"Wauw, you two are real trainers" Danny said with awe, while Nate merely looked at them confused. Danny turned to Nate and explained how Tyson had valiantly caught Butterfree in midair and brought it back, completely ignoring Tyson's attempts at correcting him.

"Awesome" Nate squeaked as Danny finished his tale. "Hey, if you're real trainers, how many badges do you have?"

"We just won our first badge yesterday" Tyson said. He took of his bag and found his Badge Case to show the boys their Y-shaped badge. "This is the Basis Badge from Relyb City" he explained as Nate and Danny looked at it before he packed it away again.

"That must be awesome, to fight in real Gym Battles" Nate said wishfully. "Hey, since you're both trainers, how about a Pokémon battle?"

"Yeah, and let's make it a Tag-battle" Danny chimed in. "Won't you please say yes?" the two boys looked up at the teens with moist eyes.

"I don't think we have the option of refusing their challenge" Casey said with a smile.

"Then let's do it" Tyson said eagerly. "I want to try this Tag-battle thing."

"You accept?" the boys said in unison. "Awesome." The two boys gestured for the teens to stay where they were while they put some difference between them.

"We know Danny has a Butterfree" Casey said softly as he prepared his Pokédex. "But I wonder what Nate has."

"Alright, we're ready now" Danny called. "Butterfree, go." The Butterfree that had been circling Danny flew inside the makeshift battlefield.

"Come out, Beautifly" Nate called. Inside the small patch of trees a rustling could be heard and out flew another large butterfly. This one, however, had grey wings with beautiful patterns of red, blue and yellow. Its eyes were big and blue and instead of a nose there was a long snout which was curled up. Like Butterfree, it sprouted two antennae from the top of its head.

"Beautifly, the Butterfly Pokémon" Casey's Pokédex read out loud. "Beautifly is the evolved form of Silcoon. It loves sweet pollen and riding the spring breeze from flower to flower. Beautifly has a long mouth like a coiled needle, which is very convenient for collecting pollen from flowers. It attacks ferociously when angered."

"So we're up against a pair of overgrown butterflies" Tyson said. "So how should we do this? Any other trainer and I'd go all in, but they are just small kids…"

"I'm going with Ruffer" Casey said and let out his Corphish. "A Corphish is neither weak nor strong against them."

"Hmm… I think I'll choose Clamper" Tyson decided and opened his Karrablast's Poké Ball, causing the small blue-shelled, yellow-bellied creature to appear beside him.

"Let's start" Danny called. "Butterfree, use PoisonPowder!" Butterfree started flapping its wings, releasing a purple-colored cloud that blew softly across the battlefield.

"Beautifly, let's put some speed behind that move" Nate called. "Use Gust." Beautifly climbed up a little and started to flap it wings vigorously, whipping up a fierce wind that blew the poisonous cloud towards Karrablast and Corphish.

"Ruffer, use Bubble into the cloud" Casey commanded.

"What good will that do?" Tyson asked as the Ruffian Pokémon took aim.

"It may just make the powder too heavy to float in the air, making it fall to the ground" Casey explained as the Water-type started firing bubbles.

"Ah, now I see" Tyson replied. "Clamper, take cover behind Ruffer." Karrablast moved behind Corphish as the cloud came ever closer. But before the dreaded poison cloud came close enough to harm them the powder spread to thinly and the poison vanished.

"Oh, no" Nate cried.

"Not again" Danny sighed. The two butterflies hung still in the air, clearly disappointed.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm glad it did" Tyson said. "Clamper, get in there and use Peck!" Clamper jumped over the Corphish and ran on stubby legs towards the two butterflies, energy building around its mouth. "Aim it at Butterfree." Clamper jumped and the energy shaped into a beak.

"Butterfly, try to dodge" Danny called but too late. Karrablast hit Butterfree straight on and Butterfree flew backwards through the air.

"Yes, a direct hit" Tyson said.

"Beautifly, use Gust and blow that Karrablast away" Nate called. Beautifly whipped up another wind and a gale blew the small Bug-type back towards its trainer.

"Clamper, Leer back" Tyson called and the Karrablast shot an angry leer at the Beautifly, which shuddered. "Alright, now close in and use Peck again." Karrablast started running towards Beautifly, energy building around its mouth.

"Butterfree, use Stun Spore!" Dany called. Butterfree was back on the field again and flapped its wings, releasing a yellow cloud this time.

"Ruffer, use Bubble like before" Casey called and his Corphish started spewing out bubbles towards the cloud. Just in time too, as the spores became too heavy and fell just short of hitting Karrablast.

"Thanks, pal" Tyson said as Karrablast continued its attack undisrupted, hitting Beautifly.

"We're not through this yet" Casey replied. "Ruffer, close in and use ViceGrip on Butterfree." The red lobster-like Pokémon ran towards Butterfree and jumped, extending a large pincer towards it.

"Butterfree, counter with Stun Spore!" Danny called but once again he was a second to late and Butterfree was caught in Corphish's grip, unable to flap it wings.

"Beautifly, we have to help Butterfree" Nate said. "Use Absorb on Corphish." Beautifly raised its snout and flung it in Ruffer's direction, sending out a green whip of energy.

"Clamper, intercept!" Tyson called. The small Bug-type flung itself into the line of fire and was hit by the energy whip. It grimaced as Beautifly drained a bit of energy before releasing the bond.

"Nice save" Casey said.

"What are friends for?" Tyson replied back with a smile. "Now let's finish this." Casey nodded. "Clamper, use Peck on Butterfree." The blue-shelled Pokémon spun around as it built up energy and shoved it energy beak into Butterfree's body. Butterfree let out a cry and grew limp. Ruffer released it and both Casey's and Tyson's Pokémon turned towards the remaining Beautifly.

"Ruffer, use Bubble!" A stream of bubbles flew towards the Beautifly, which was too close to evade.

"Clamper, follow up with Peck!" Clamper jumped at it, scoring a clean hit with Peck. Beautifly fell to the ground and didn't attempt to get back up. "And that's a wrap" Tyson concluded. "Nice job, Clamper. Return."

"You did well, Ruffer. Come back" Casey said as they both recalled their Pokémon.

"Wauw, you two are really strong" Nate said.

"Yeah, we couldn't do anything" Danny said.

"That's not entirely true" Casey said with a smile. The two boys looked up at him. "You see, your combination in the beginning was really well thought out. You have one Pokémon spread some spores into the air and the other propels them towards the opponent, almost guaranteeing a hit. It's actually pretty clever."

"You really think so?" the boys asked, swelling with pride over the praise.

"Yeah" Casey affirmed. "Your only mistake was that you were too impatient. If you had waited until our Pokémon had launched some contact attacks, you would have guaranteed a hit, but the distance worked in our favor."

"Huh, you're right" Tyson said. "I didn't even realize that. How did you see through their tactics so fast?"

"It was something that Bruce said, about the two of us having different approaches to how we fight" Casey replied. "And this was our first Tag-battle, so I wanted to hang back a little and analyze how Ruffer and Clamper might work together."

"So that's why I had to do all the heavy lifting" Tyson said, causing the two small boys to laugh.

"Oh, look at the time" Nate said. "We have to go back home now, my mom's expecting us for lunch."

"Get going then" Tyson said. The two kids said their goodbyes and ran off with their two butterflies following them. Then Tyson turned to Casey. "We should get going too."

"You're right" Casey replied. The pair walked back to the road and started heading west along the road towards the Goma Passage.

"A Tag-battle sure is different than a normal battle, don't you think?" Tyson asked after they had walked a little while.

"Yeah, really different" Casey said. "In a normal battle you only need to worry about yourself and the opponent, but in a Tag-battle you have a partner who you have to share your strategy with and you're fighting two persons who may react completely different to the same situation."

"I just thought there was more action" Tyson said. "But I guess all the stuff you said goes too."

"You guess?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, why don't we enter that tournament?" Tyson asked, ignoring Casey's comment from before. "You know, the one the kids were talking about? It's in Pirepsah City where we are heading anyway."

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea, actually" Casey conceded. "It'll be good training and it will make us a better team too."

"Then let's do it" Tyson said. "Let's get to Pirepsah City for our Gym Battle and the Tag Team Tournament!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself" Casey said and stopped as they crested a hill. Ahead of them the road turned north. In the distance, a mass of brown could be seen on the horizon. It stretched north-east to south-west in the horizon, as far as they could see. Snow coated some of the highest peaks in the range.

"So where exactly is that passage again?" Tyson asked as he scanned the mountains in the horizon.

"The road leads straight there" Casey replied. "Now come on." The boys started down the road that would take them closer to their next destination, the Goma Passage.

_As our heroes make their way towards Pirepsah City, so too does Alit, a companion of the mysterious Vector. What will happen when their paths cross? And more immediately, what awaits them in the Goma Passage?_

* * *

**You have probably guessed it, but the event I'm looking for OC's for is the Tag Team Tournament. You don't have to provide both trainers, and you need only suggest 1 Pokémon for the tournament.  
**

**In other news, this marks the start of a new story arc, in which I'm planning quite a few surprises for you, my dear readers. I'm trying to avoid filler chapters, and I do believe I've succeeded so far. This (and chapter 3) may be the closest we've come to filler for now, but an important event was revealed and I'm counting that as non-filler.  
**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure


	9. Underground Clash

**Welcome back, dear reader.**

**We're now at chapter 9, and let me warn you - it's a long one. It even slightly longer than chapter 5, just to give you an idea. However, I do believe its worth it. This chapter holds a little something for everyone: Pokémon battles, dramatic rescues, some lore about the Pokémon world and more. So sit back, grab a cup of your preferred beverage and enjoy.**

**Currently Submitted OC's: 2. Currently Used OC's : 0 (1 in planning).**

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Underground Clash**

_Saturday the 17__th__ of Silversun_

_09:12, Route 703 just outside Goma Passage_

The two teenagers left the Pokémon Center, located just off the eastern mouth of the Goma Passage. The center was unlike the ones they had previously encountered, though. This one was made of wood, logs to be precise, rather than the white brick and cement of the ones in the cities. The logs were all natural shades of brown, showing some signs of wear and tear. The roof was equal parts brown and green, giving the Pokémon Center the look of a large tree. When they had arrived the night before, the resident Nurse Joy had explained how this center also helped wild injured Pokémon, which was why it was made to resemble a tree.

The inside of the Pokémon Center had been just as different. Sure there had been a clinical area and a Trainers Lounge, but the latter was greatly reduced, to the point where only 4 or 5 tables with chairs could be fitted inside. There had been no restaurant in there either and the Nurse was in charge of handing out room keys to the 5 available rooms there were. But the boys hadn't minded it in the slightest, as they got the opportunity to help out a little with some of the injured Pokémon that Nurse Joy had taken in. Their own Pokémon had also received check-ups as well and after a good night's sleep, they had woken up to a brand new day.

Casey looked up at the towering mountains ahead of them. Nurse Joy had explained how people long ago had to climb across the mountains, finding the safest passes. But bringing cargo that way was impractical and so a great construction work had begun, where people had started working the rock where it was weakest, taking advantage of tunnels already dug by wild Pokémon living in the mountains. The result was that the road had become passable, but mazelike. Nowadays, cargo was moved either by ship or plane, rendering the mazelike road obsolete. The nurse had expressed some concern about the boys' choice of going through the cave but had not pressed it further.

About a hundred meters ahead of them the Passage opened up. Casey thought it resembled a giant opening its mouth, ready to devour them and repressed a shudder. It was just a cave, after all. A long, dark and abandoned cave. Casey cast a single glance up at the sky. It was overcast and the clouds were dark and heavy – it would rain soon. In that way it was a good thing that they were going inside the cave, Casey thought to himself. At least they wouldn't have to deal with wet clothes.

"You ready?" Tyson asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah" Casey replied, though he didn't feel ready. The pair started walking closer and closer to the entrance. But still Casey couldn't shake the image of being devoured by a mountain.

Suddenly, the two boys were inside the cave and followed the once paved road ahead. It wasn't as bad as Casey had feared, not after a short while, at least. Along the ruined road were power cables, though they were in a sad state of disrepair. More often than not a loose cable was sparking with energy that seemed to go nowhere. The lights that had been placed on the cave-side were flickering on and off, if they even worked at all.

"This is not a place I want to get lost in" Casey said, looking around him.

"Don't tell me you're scared?" Tyson said. "Out of all the things we may encounter on our journey such as rampaging Ursaring or mean-spirited, leg-hating Goldeen, you're afraid of the dark?"

"I'm not afraid of the dark" Casey retorted. "I'm afraid of being crushed by tons and tons of solid rock."

"Pft, worrywart" Tyson replied. "Look, this passage has lasted for… how many years did Nurse Joy said again?"

"More than a hundred" Casey replied.

"See? This cave has lasted over a hundred years. Why should today be any different?" As soon as Tyson finished speaking, the two boys heard a low rumble, which soon grew stronger.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Casey remarked flatly, glaring at Tyson.

"Yeah, sure" Tyson replied sarcastically as the rumbling grew louder and the ground started to shake softly. "Blame me for the completely random geological movements." Casey shouted something back but the sound of it was drowned by the now deafening rumble and powerful shakes of the earth.

The two looked up and around them for any signs of rocks giving away but it seemed like everything held their place. Then a good 20 meters ahead of them, the wall exploded outwards into the passage and a large snake-like creature appeared, though rather than being with scales, it had large rocks forming its body. A sharp horn-like shape protruded from its head, pointing upwards. It turned its head back towards the opening and roared. Then, a small group of four smaller rocky-snakes came out of the tunnel, barely reaching a meter in length.

"Are those Onix?" Tyson asked, over the now seemingly ever present rumble.

"I think so" Casey said. "Though I've never seen Onix as small as those." As Casey and Tyson kept their distance, the biggest of the Onix turned down the path and roughly another 20 meters dug into the wall, disappearing with the smaller Onix following behind it. The rumbling increased in volume again as the Onix dug through the cave walls.

As soon as the last of the smaller Onix disappeared through the hole in the wall, another Pokémon burst through the first hole. The Pokémon stood on its hind legs and looked around, searching for something. It was predominately brown, with various red markings on its body. Its hands were steel claws, making them perfect implements for digging. Its face was white and elongated, with red stripes on the cheeks, stretching to the neck. The top of its head was covered in metal as well.

"What is that Pokémon?" Tyson asked as he found his Pokédex.

"Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokémon and the evolved form of Drilbur" the Pokédex read out loud. "Excadrill can dig maze-like underground tunnels for over 100 meters and is powerful enough to cut through thick iron plates using its steel claws. Their activity can be destructive to subway tunnels. They usually grow to about 1 meter in height, but if they live in nutritious ground, they have been known to grow larger still."

The Excadrill let out a triumphant cry and a few similar, but smaller Pokémon came out of the tunnel as well. They were brown and grey, with smaller metal claws. Excadrill grunted an order and started running on its mighty legs towards the new hole that Onix had dug just seconds before. The smaller Pokémon followed and all of them jumped into the hole in the wall. The rumbling picked up again as the Excadrill dug at the path to expand it enough to fit through. After a few seconds the rumbling and shaking subsided and a little while longer all was quiet.

"What was that about?" Tyson asked verily.

"I'm not quite sure" Casey said. "But it seemed to me like the Onix was trying to lead the smaller ones away from the Excadrill and the Drilbur."

"So the small ones were Drilbur?" Tyson asked. "That answers one of my questions, but what about the other? Just what is going on?"

"I don't know" Casey replied. "I guess this is just how it is for wild Pokémon. Some gets chased, some do the chasing." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. Tyson looked at him with surprise, then he smiled.

"If that's how you feel" Tyson said, with a knowing smile on his lips, "Then I guess you won't get too angry with me for doing this!" Before Casey had a chance of asking Tyson any questions, Tyson burst into a run and jumped into the hole the Onix and Excadrill had made.

"Tyson, wait!" Casey shouted but to no avail. His friend was already out of earshot. Casey sighed and shook his head. Tyson had gone and done something foolhardy again, nothing was new there, but he wasn't angry at him this time. After all, Casey was filled with the same desire to help the Onix. He smiled to himself, then ran after his friend. He reached the hole quickly and looked down. It sloped down gently but soon became too dark to see. Casey grabbed a flashlight from his backpack and hurried down the tunnel.

It didn't take long for him to catch up to Tyson and together they followed the tracks left behind by the two large Pokémon. From ahead the rumbling could be heard to subside, replaced by a roar that sent chills up the boys' spines.

"Which of them do you think that was?" Tyson asked, his voice quivering a little.

"Don't tell me you're scared" Casey replied, laughing nervously as he shot Tyson's words back at him.

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer" Tyson replied back just before another roar reverberated through the tunnel. "I think that was Onix."

"It was definitely Onix" Casey confirmed.

"Then that means that the baby Onix may be in trouble" Tyson said. "Let's go." The two boys continued with renewed energy through the tunnel. A short while and an additional three roars later, the boys found themselves at the end of the tunnel. It ended in a rather spacious tunnel with more electrical lighting. A large rock lay right next to the opening and the boys crept behind it. Peeking over the top of the rock, they saw the Onix poised in a defensive stance, its children hiding behind it. In front of the rock-like snakes were the Excadrill and the Drilbur.

The Excadrill took a step forward on its heavy legs, shaking the ground below it. It raised a metal covered claw and snapped it a few times, as if it was mimicking cutting the Onix. The adult Onix roared again and the Excadrill took a step back. They seemed locked in a stalemate but it was only a matter of time before one side had to give.

"The Onix are in serious trouble" Tyson whispered. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"I don't think so" Casey replied with bitterness in his voice as he looked frantically around, as if searching for something to help them. The Excadrill took another step forward, causing the Onix to roar in return. But this time Excadrill didn't back down. Instead it raised one of its arms, its claws shining before taking on a more glistering, metallic hue.

"Oh no you don't" Tyson shouted and jumped away from their shelter, whipping a Poké Ball through the air. "I choose you, Corona." The Poké Ball opened and released the white energy, which swiftly took on the form of the small, red bird. Corona gave an angry cry as it landed on the ground. "Corona, hit it with Ember!" The Torchic took a deep breath and spat out a series of small embers towards the Excadril. The attack connected with Excadrill squarely in its back. The large Pokémon halted its attack and looked over its shoulder. It instantly spotted Tyson and Corona, standing in the middle of the path.

"You leave those Onix alone!" Tyson shouted. Excadrill grunted and gave a command to some of the Drilbur, who turned around and headed towards Tyson. "We can take them" Tyson said defiantly, with corona chiming in. "Corona, Flame Burst!" Corona took a deep breath and launched a fiery ball of flame towards the 3 approaching opponents. But before the fireball could make contact, the Drilbur jumped into the air, spun around with arms raised so they resembled a drill and aimed at the ground, digging below to avoid the attack. Before Tyson and Corona could react, the 3 Drilbur appeared from underneath, knocking the defenseless bird into the air. Tyson rushed forward to catch it.

"Tyson, let's go!" Casey shouted as he ran from the cover, grabbed Tyson by the arm and ran away from the Drilbur. Tyson followed suit, as did the Drilbur. "That was a really stupid thing to do" Casey shouted as they ran.

"I know that now" Tyson replied with Corona in his arms. The Drilbur was slowly closing in on them. "But admit it" Tyson said with a grin, "You wanted to do the exact same thing."

Casey stared at him with an astounded look on his face, then smiled. "You're right" he admitted. "I guess we're more alike than I thought." Tyson grinned back, then cast a look over his shoulder.

"It's no good" Tyson said. "The Drilbur are closing in."

"And to make matters worse, this is a dead end" Casey exclaimed and skidded to a stop. Tyson did the same and they both turned around to face the approaching opponents.

"Maybe there's something in here that can help" Tyson wondered aloud and pointed his Pokédex at the Drilbur.

"Drilbur, the Mole Pokémon" the Pokédex read out. "It makes its way swiftly through the soil by putting both claws together and rotating at high speed."

"Man, not a lot of useful information" Tyson sighed.

"There's plenty of information" Casey, who had been looking over Tyson's shoulder, said. "On the top screen it says that Drilbur is a Ground-type. Ground-types are weak towards Grass-types and Water-types." Casey found both of his Poké Balls, which contained Pokémon. "And I just happen to have one of each of those types."

"That's right!" Tyson said. "So let's get them out here already!"

"Right" Casey replied and threw both Poké Balls into the air. "Twurt, Ruffer, I choose you!" The balls opened and released the energy inside. The energy reshaped itself into Turtwig and Corphish, who both cried out, anxious to do battle. The 3 Drilbur stopped their approach, looking verily at the new opposition. "Ruffer, use Bubble. Twurt, use Seed Bomb!" The Corphish took a deep breath and spew out a mass of light, blue bubbles. Beside it, Twurt gathered energy in its sapling and released a yellow-green projectile. The Drilbur saw the attacks and dodged, though the one on the right didn't quite get clear of the bubbles.

"They are still going strong" Tyson warned.

"I'm working on it!" Casey replied, focused on the battle. One of the Drilbur that had escaped the attacks was closing in on Twurt, an arm raised with claws shining with a metallic sheen. "Twurt, use Absorb on the one closing in." Twurt gathered energy and flung a green energy whip at the incoming Ground-type, catching it and stopping it in its tracks. The Drilbur cried out as its energy was drained by the attack.

"Casey, the other side!" Tyson called as another Drilbur came closing in.

"Ruffer, use Bubble!" Casey commanded swiftly and the lobster-like Pokémon shot out a stream of bubbles, which hit the Drilbur straight on.

"Nice hit!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Tochi" Corona chirped in his arms.

"Twurt, let go of the Drilbur and use Seed Bomb!" Casey commanded. The little green turtle released the energy whip and quickly charged up energy. Twurt shot the projectile towards the Drilbur as the energy reached its peak. The mole took the attack straight on and flew backwards. Casey whipped his head towards his Corphish and barked another command. "Ruffer, use Leer!" Corphish gave an evil glance to the Drilbur it was fighting, which simply stared back. "Follow up with ViceGrip!" The Corphish shot towards the Ground-type and grabbed it with its pincer, holding tight. The Drilbur didn't take it well and retaliated with Fury Swipes, launching scratch after scratch at Ruffer. "Ruffer, use Harden!" Casey called and the red Pokémon tightened its muscles, to better take the hits. "Now fling it away" Casey shouted and his Corphish obeyed, throwing the Drilbur over to the one Twurt had attacked just before. The two Pokémon crashed into each other and fell to the ground.

"That's 2 down!" Tyson rejoiced.

"But where's the last one?" Casey asked, looking frantically after it. Suddenly the ground started to shake and the last Drilbur appeared from directly below Twurt. Twurt cried as it was flung up and backwards, with Drilbur landing in front of the two others who got back to their feet. "Those things are tough" Casey uttered.

"And just as we'd beaten 2 of them too" Tyson said.

"What's with the 'we' business?" Casey asked, then returned to the battle in front of him. "Twurt, use Seed Bomb!" But instead of charging energy, Twurt whipped its head and a stream of leaves flew towards the opponents, hitting all 3 Drilbur. "Was that Razor Leaf, Twurt?" Casey asked.

"Twi!" Turtwig nodded.

"Alright, you've learned Razor Leaf now!" Casey said joyfully.

"Poké Ball, go!" Tyson shouted and flung a Poké Ball towards the Drilbur. But the lead Drilbur simply knocked the Poké Ball away and it landed somewhere behind the Drilbur. "You could at least have sent it back to me" Tyson yelled at the Drilbur.

"What was that for?" Casey asked.

"Well, I figured that now they were weakened I would try to catch one" Tyson replied with a grin. "Guess it didn't turn out as I'd hoped."

"And after I did all the hard work…" Casey said flatly, then focused on the group of Drilbur, who were now all coming in with raised, shining claws. "Twurt, get in front of Ruffer. Ruffer, use a weak Bubble on Twurt's shell." The green turtle jumped in front of Ruffer, who launched a Bubble attack at the shell. The bubbles hit and Twurt's shell instantly absorbed the water and grew hard. "Now, Twurt, use Withdraw!" The Turtwig began to withdraw, but nothing happened.

"Twi?" Turtwig said confused.

"What's going on?" Casey asked bewildered.

"I'm no expert, but it looks to me like Twurt has forgotten Withdraw" Tyson replied.

"And at a time like this" Casey muttered. "Twurt, bend over so the Drilbur will hit the shell!" Twurt did as told in the nick of time, as the triple Metal Claw beat down on its shell. "Ruffer, catch them off guard with Bubble!" Ruffer spat out another series of blue bubbles, hurting the Drilbur and knocking them off of Twurt. "Twurt, give them a Razor Leaf at full power!" The Turtwig raised its head and whipped it forward, sending a storm of leaves at the Drilbur. The Ground-type moles were flung back and didn't get up this time.

"Turtwig!" Twurt said joyously.

"Corphish Cor" Ruffer joined triumphantly.

"Great job you two" Casey praised them. "Now let's get back to the Onix!"

"Right" Tyson replied and they started down the tunnel. But they had barely passed the pile of Drilbur before Tyson saw his Poké Ball from before. He ran over and picked it up, took a look back at the Drilbur and frowned. He tucked the Poké Ball back into the belt and rushed after Casey.

"What took you?" Casey asked.

"I had to pick up my Poké Ball from before" Tyson replied.

"You didn't try to catch the Drilbur again, did you?" Casey asked.

"Of course not" Tyson replied. "I haven't caught anything lately, though not for lack of trying." Before the pair could bicker anymore there came another howl from ahead. By silent agreement the boys and their Pokémon sped up, rushing up the tunnel.

They soon arrived back at the Onix. The situation was different than before. The Drilbur that had remained at Excadrill's side had all been defeated and were lying around the area. Now, the Onix and the Excadrill were locked in battle. Normally, the Onix would have towered above most of its opponents, however the Excadrill it was fighting was a lot bigger than normal and the two were struggling to gain the upper hand. The smaller Onix were still cowering behind their parent.

"Got any good ideas?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah, yours from before" Casey replied. "Twurt, Ruffer, I need you to fight a little more, okay?" His Pokémon nodded and jumped in front of him.

"Corona, how about you?" Tyson asked. Corona nodded and jumped out of his arms. "You may as well help too" Tyson said to Clamper as he found the Poké Ball containing the Bug-type and opened it. The small blue-shelled bug appeared. "You ready to fight?" he asked it and got a nod in response.

The large Onix roared and a rush of sand flew out of its mouth. The sand flew towards Excadrill, hitting it in the side and forming a tornado around it. Excadrill roared in return and slashed at the sand whirling about it with Metal Claw. The wind evaporated and the sand fell harmlessly to the ground. The Excadrill then proceeded to hammer Onix with the Metal Claw, earning itself a mighty slam of Onix's tail in return.

"Those two are really going at it" Tyson said warily.

"Yeah, but we don't really have a choice" Casey said with an air of determination. "Twurt, use Razor Leaf. Ruffer, use Bubble."

"Corona, use Ember. Clamper, use Peck" Tyson joined in.

The four Pokémon readied themselves and attacked; The small green turtle raised it head and then whipped it forward, sending a multitude of leaves towards the target; The red shell-fish-like Pokémon opened its mouth and spew forth a series of light-blue bubbles, which flew towards its target; The small red bird took a deep breath and unleashed a series of small flames that flew towards the Excadrill; Finally, the small blue-shelled Bug-type ran behind all the attacks, its small horn glowing a soft green. The first three attacks impacted, causing Excadrill to howl in pain and look over its shoulder. Onix saw its chance and slammed it with its tail again, causing Excadrill to change its focus once more. Clamper made its way to Excadrill and struck with its softly green-glowing horn.

"That's not Peck" Tyson said with a frown. "What is that move?"

"I'm not sure…" Casey started. "Wait a minute." He paused, as he relieved a memory of his Gym battle a few days prior. Back then, his Corphish had been taking a beating from Bruce's Zangoose, whose claws had shimmered the same way. "Tyson, it's Fury Cutter!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"Really? That's awesome" Tyson rejoiced, though Excadrill seemed not to take notice. "Not to effective against that guy, but awesome all the same."

"Once more guys, let's help Clamper out" Casey said to his Pokémon. "Ruffer, use Bubble again. Twurt, go with Absorb."

"Corona, hit it with another ember. Clamper, keep up the Fury Cutter" Tyson shouted.

The Pokémon attacked again and this time a series of small red flames, light-blue bubbles and a green energy whip flew towards Excadrill, hitting it from behind. Meanwhile, Clamper's horn glowed again and the small Bug-type struck with increased power. This time however, the Excadrill had had enough. With what strength it had left it pushed itself away from Onix, barked an order to the recovering Drilbur, before spinning around like a drill and making an escape route through the wall. The Drilbur got to their feet and followed the larger one.

"And don't come back!" Tyson shouted after them, shaking a fist into the air.

"You two did an amazing job" Casey said as he crouched down to pet a tired Twurt and Ruffer. "You deserve a good long rest now." Casey held out their Poké Balls and the two Pokémon willingly struck the button, being sucked inside. Tyson recalled his two as well.

Then, they turned to the Onix. The big one looked verily at them, as if trying to decide whether they were friend or foe. "It's okay" Casey said and extended his arms, palms upwards. "We won't hurt you." He took a tentative step forward. Then another. The Onix regarded him but made no motion to stop him. "I'm going to find some medicine, okay?" Casey asked soothingly as he put his back on the ground and found a pair of potions. "This will sting a little at first, but it will make you feel better, I promise." The Onix stayed still and Casey approached it, medicine in hand. He sprayed a little on the worst gashes and was surprised to find that underneath the rocky exterior, the Onix was actually flesh. Onix growled as the medicine worked its way into its veins, but relaxed as it soon felt the restorative capabilities. "Just a little more" Casey said and sprayed the last of the medicine onto the creature.

"Think it's enough?" Tyson asked concerned.

"It'll have to be" Casey said. "I didn't think we would need that much medicine, but we'll have to stock up next time we're at a Pokémon Center." Casey continued to administer the medicine, until both aerosols were empty. "There you go" Casey said gently as he put away the empty cans. "That's as much as I can do, sorry." The Onix hummed gently. Casey took his backpack and went over to Tyson. "I guess it's time for us to leave. We have to find our way through this cave after all."

"Uhmm…" Tyson started and sank.

"What?" Casey asked with a frown.

"B… Behind y… you" Tyson stuttered. Casey grunted and turned his head and gasped. Behind him, the Onix was towering over him, its mouth open, head descending.

An icy calm settled over Casey. _Looks like I'll be swallowed by a mountain after all_ he thought with dry humor, reflecting on his feelings upon entering the cave in the first place. He stood by frozen and watched as the Onix lowered its head. It mouth slowly closed. Casey closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

His first impression was a feeling of weightlessness. _Makes sense_ he thought. _I don't suppose a soul weights all that much._ His next sensation was cold, hard rock beneath him. _I didn't expect the afterlife to be cold_ Casey wondered, but dismissed it. Then came a sound; the sound of Tyson laughing.

"Casey, open your eyes" he grinned. The voice came from behind him. Casey opened his eyes and found himself on the back of the Onix, with Tyson sitting behind him.

"What happened?" Casey asked.

"The Onix picked you up, like a Persian would a Meowth" Tyson replied. "But instead of grapping our necks, it grabbed the backpacks and lifted us onto its back." Casey let out a sigh of relief. "What, you didn't really think it was going to eat you, did you?" Tyson said with a smirk.

"You thought the same thing" Casey muttered at his friend, who grinned sheepishly. Below them, Onix grunted to what Casey now thought of as its children and started moving. "Where do you think we're going?" Casey asked as Onix started to make its way through the labyrinthine caverns.

"I haven't the foggiest" Tyson replied and grasped hold of Onix as he almost slid of the side.

The Onix let them ride on it for quite a while. Not that it was a boring trip by any means. Looking around them, Casey and Tyson saw things they had never seen before. A flock of Roggenrola, led by a Boldore, were making their way through the tunnel with them. The Boldore seemed to be chatting away with Onix, who hummed or grunted in return. As they delved further into the mountain, the cave walls started to shimmer ever so softly. A purple-black creature with large eyes broke of a chunk of the rock and gnawed on it, spitting out the raw stone. A school of small, thin eel-like Pokémon were going the other way, heading away from wherever they were going.

Finally, the tunnel opened up, leading into a large room in the mountain. The room was huge, over twice the length across as the length of the Onix they were riding on. A lot of cave-dwelling Pokémon rested in the room; Roggenrola and Geodude around the edge, while Zubat and Woobat hung head-down from the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a large, blue crystal-like rock. The air was charged as if from a thunder storm.

"What is this place?" Tyson whispered in awe.

"I'm not sure" Casey replied, keeping his voice down as he gazed around. "But if I should guess, I'd say it is their version of a sanctum or shrine."

"You think so?" Tyson asked, not fully comprehending what Casey had said. Casey nodded but didn't reply. Though the boys had tried to keep quiet, all activity in the room seized as the wild Pokémon became aware of them. The Pokémon looked frightened at them, then at Onix. The great rock-snake raised its head and spoke to the Pokémon, through a combination of howls, roars, grunts and hums, though the meaning of it escaped the two teenage boys.

There was a brief moment of utter silence when the Onix finally felt silent. Then, all as one, the wild Pokémon cried out in cheers, evidently happy about something. The Roggenrola where hopping up and down on their small feet, as the elegant body of purple Zubat streaked around Casey and Tyson.

"I think we're heroes" Tyson grinned to his friend and waved an arm to the crowd.

Then Onix let out another howl and all fell quiet again. The great rock-snake straightened its body and gently pushed Tyson and Casey off of it. Once the boys were safely on the ground, Onix went over to the big rock in the room. Raising its head as high as it could, it brought it back down with as much force as it could muster. The boys gasped as the horn impacted the rock and two pieces, roughly the size of a child's fist, broke off. A Geodude went over to pick up the two pieces and brought them over to the boys. It held out a piece to each of them, which they accepted apprehensively. The rock was the same color as the one they had come from. The rock stung a little to touch.

"What's this?" Tyson asked confused, staring at the rock.

"I don't know" Casey replied. "It's a pretty piece of rock, but I think that's it."

As if to prove him wrong, a long blue eel appeared from a crevice in the rock. The tail ended in a red fin, while two beige fins extended from its head; one upwards, one down. Its eyes were surrounded by yellow markings and yellow dots trailed halfway down its side. Its mouth was round and filled with sharp teeth.

"Now what's this?" Tyson asked and scanned the Pokémon with his Pokédex.

"Eelektrik, the Elefish Pokémon" the red Pokédex read out. "Eelektrik is the evolved form of Tynamo. They coil around foes and shock them with electricity-generating organs that seem simply to be circular patterns. These Pokémon have a big appetite. When they spot their prey, they attack it and paralyze it with electricity."

"Sounds nasty" Tyson remarked and turned off the encyclopedia.

The Pokémon looked at them, then continued to make its way through the room. It touched the large rock and became enveloped in a bluish light. As everyone watched, the fin on its tail shrunk and disappeared entirely, while two large arms grew out. The Eelektrik also grew to nearly twice the length and a tail-like appendage sprouted from the back of its head. The light subsided and in front of them was a new Pokémon.

"Turned it off to soon" Tyson muttered and pointed the Pokédex at the new Pokémon.

"Eelektross, the EleFish Pokémon and the evolved form of Eelektrik" the Pokédex read out again. "They crawl out of the ocean using their arms. They will attack prey on shore and immediately drag it into the ocean. Eelektross's mouth locks onto its opponents, where upon it delivers an electric shock. They evolve from Eelektrik when exposed to the effects of a thunderstone."

"So that's it then" Casey muttered and pulled up his own Pokédex. He opened it and turned it on, then accessed a few menus too fast for Tyson to follow and pointed at the large crystalline formation.

"Scanning" the Pokédex said and made a low buzzing sound.

"What are you doing?" Tyson asked as he watched the Eelektross slither away.

"Confirming a theory" Casey replied cryptically.

"Scanning complete" the green Pokédex said and gave a soft beep. "This area contains high levels of a special magnetic field, similar to the one found at Mt. Coronet in the Sinnoh region. Additionally, the rocks in the vicinity shows to have high native levels of magnetic energy, similar to the energy found in thunderstones."

"As I suspected" Casey said and put away his Pokédex. "The Pokémon here are attracted to the magnetic field found in this area and that rock in particular is an excellent source of thunderstones." Tyson nodded as he followed Casey's line of thought. "These rocks aren't just pretty, they are thunderstones. And furthermore, they are proof of Onix's gratitude." The boys looked up at the Onix and bowed their heads respectfully. Onix did the same, recognizing their thanks.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything" Tyson said after a few seconds, "But shouldn't we get on our way? I mean, we have to get to Pirepsah city and soon too."

"You're right, we should" Casey said.

The two readied themselves and started towards the tunnel they had come from. Before they had taken more than a few steps, however, there came a grunting from behind. The boys turned their heads and saw the Onix approaching them. It pressed itself against the ground, indicating for the boys to climb back up. With a grin, Casey and Tyson mounted the rock-snake once more and Onix started down the tunnel. It wasn't long before Onix diverted from the path they had followed once. For hours the boys rode on the Onix, being carried through a myriad of tunnels and caves. After a long time, Onix finally emerged back at the main tunnel, dug out years ago by man and Pokémon.

"Thanks for the ride, Onix" Casey said, as he and Tyson slid off.

"You saved us a lot of time" Tyson said. The Onix hummed in response, dibbed its head a little before turning and leaving. "Wauw, what a day" Tyson said.

"Yeah, and look" Casey replied and pointed. Tyson followed his gaze along he cave walls and looked straight into a setting sun. The sun. They were at the exit. In front of the sun was a shadowy figure that waxed up and down in size. Tyson realized it must be their destination, Pirepsah City.

"That Onix carried us all through the mountain?" Tyson exclaimed.

"Seems that way" Casey said. "Now come on, I've had enough of being trapped in dark caves for one day."

"Don't tell me you're still scared of the dark" Tyson joked as the pair left the cave and headed north-west, towards Pirepsah city rising in the distance.

* * *

**Well, how did you like the chapter? My only beef about it is probably the title. It was the best I could come up with, without spoiling too much in the title alone.**

**I know there are some things that I may not have described well enough in the story, so let me make up for it here (sorry). The Excadrill was large, huge even, but that came from an error on my part. Up until recently I had only seen Excadrill in the games, so I thought it looked pretty big. Turns out the game stats put them at 0.7 meters... which isn't much of a threat to an 8 meter tall Onix... So I thought of Iris' Excadrill in the Best Wishes series (which I'm currently watching) and it stood about 1 meter in height. So I figured that they were usually about a meter but could grow taller if the conditions were present (which, by the way, is a beef I have with the Pokémon games in their entirety, but I will save that for another time).**

**The attacks the Drilbur were using was primarily Metal Claw. It wasn't named until Excadrill used it on Onix in the end, but I wanted to make you figure it out for yourself.**

**Finally, I needed a reason for the Onix versus Drilbur fight. Overall, its a turf thing, but it may be that the Excadrill wanted the thunder rock (new name for the giant thnderstone, I should patent that). I honestly don't know. I do hope you enjoyed the fight after all though. **

**As always, comments and critique are encouraged. **

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter


	10. Tag Team Tournament, Begin!

**Hello everybody and welcome to chapter 10. I consider this a milestone for various reasons, chief amongst them that we've reached 10 chapters (applaud me, please) and that there is now over 250 views (applaud yourself this time). I don't have much to say before you read the chapter, so see you at the notes in the bottom.  
**

**I've made a poll on my profile regarding a forum for the story. Click in and have your say.**

**Currently Submitted OC's: 2. Currently Used OC's : 0 (1 in planning).**

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Tag Team Tournament, Begin!**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_08:55, Pirepsah City_

"Tyson, are you awake yet?" Casey called through the door. There came no reply from within. "Tyson, get up" he called again, banging on the door this time, which earned him a disgruntled look from another trainer walking through the hallway on the upper floor of the Pokémon Center. Casey apologized as the trainer went on and leaned against the wall. The pair had arrived in Pirepsah City late the evening before and immediately found their way to the Pokémon Center. After leaving their four Pokémon in the care of Nurse Joy, the two had gone into the restaurant part of the Trainers Lounge to eat. After their meal they had collected their Pokémon, all of them fine but in need of a good night's rest, and walked to the receptionist in the Trainers Lounge. They had gotten the last two rooms available and, after agreeing to meet for breakfast at about 8 o'clock the next morning, went to bed.

The room Casey had slept in had been fairly standard; A bed, a closet, a desk with a TV and a door to a small bathroom. The bed had been comfortable enough and after a quick shower he had let out Twurt and Ruffer, letting them sleep where they wanted too.

He had woken early in the morning and after getting dressed he recalled his Pokémon and went downstairs for breakfast. It had been nearly 8 o'clock, so Casey had grabbed a bowl and eaten while he waited for Tyson. After more than half an hour Tyson still hadn't showed up, prompting Casey to now stand in front of his door, trying to wake him.

Casey pounded on the door again. "Hey, are you going to get up today or what?" he called. "We have a gym we need to go and challenge, remember?" A creaking sound could be heard from inside, probably Tyson that had bolted upright in bed. A second after that a loud crash could be heard, accompanied by groans of pain. Casey shook his head – Tyson had fallen out of bed in eagerness to get up. A few seconds after that, Casey could hear Tyson trying to open the door, but it didn't budge. "You have to unlock it first" Casey called and sighed. The lock turned with an audible click and Tyson opened the door.

Casey took one look at the figure in the doorway and had to bite down hard on his lips not to laugh. The Tyson he saw was a complete mess. His brown eyes were bleary, though a spark of energy resided deep within, trying to take control. The white t-shirt he had slept in was showing signs of a troubled sleep, barely covering his abdomen due to folds. At least he had remembered to wear a set of sleeping pants, for which Casey gave a silent thanks. His fiery red hair was even messier than usual, though Casey had a hard time imagining it possible. A slight patch of stubble could be seen on either cheek.

"Don't say a word" Tyson said drowsily as he saw Casey's reaction.

"I wasn't going to" replied Casey, stifling a laugh.

"Come on in" Tyson said and Casey did as he was told. The room was surprisingly tidy, as long as the bed was not counted as part of the room. The pillows were on the floor, the blanket sideways across the bed and the linen where coming off the mattress.

"What happened?" asked Casey incredulous.

"Corona and Clamper, that's what happened" Tyson said and yawned. "Ahphranet…" Tyson started while he yawned, then stopped and finished his yawn. "I'd let out my Pokémon so they could sleep in the bed as well if they wanted too. At first it went well, and Corona and Clamper fell asleep next to each other – give me those pants over there, would you?" Casey took the pants from the floor and threw them to Tyson. Tyson thanked him and continued. "So while we're all sleeping, it turns out that Corona snores a little. And when she does, she accidentally lets out a few embers. Some of those embers…" he paused to stretch as he changed his pants, "Hit Clamper by accident, who then flared up, no pun intended, and ran around screaming, waking me and Corona."

"And that caused all of this?" Casey asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"No" Tyson answered confused. "That's why my backpack has a scorched spot, didn't you see that?" Casey stared with wonder at Tyson, then looked at his backpack. Sure enough, a small spot, the size of a fingernail, had been singed. "The room is just how I sleep. I toss and turn a lot; it's just not evident in a sleeping bag."

Casey found himself at a loss for words at the answer. "Just… Just get dressed, okay?" he said and sat down, staring at the mess and felt sorry for the maid that would have to clean it up. Now that he was awake, Tyson quickly got dressed and packed his bag.

"If it's okay, can I have breakfast first?" Tyson asked as they left the room and locked it behind them.

"Sure" Casey replied. "I'll go make sure I have everything from my room, then I'll meet you downstairs."

_Sunday the 18th of Silversun_

_09:51, Pirepsah City_

"I have told you before, you are not ready, Mia" a man said and turned away from his preparations to look at his student. He had been in the middle of preparing the gym for the days' activities, when Mia had entered and made her usual request.

"Of course I am" Mia replied. "I've been training with you for a long time and you took over the gym when you were my age." Mia folded her arms across her chest, looking at her mentor.

"Times were different back then" the man said and smiled at his student. It was true that she had been training under him for a while, almost 3 years to be exact. In that time she had improved greatly, but he still didn't think her ready for the responsibilities. He looked her over and saw his young cousin glaring back.

"How so, Alex?" Mia asked, a lock of red hair falling down in front of her face. She whipped it away with a slender hand and continued to gaze at him with her deep-set blue eyes. Freckles covered her face, giving her a tomboyish look. She was tall for her age, but even so, she still had to look up at her older cousin if she was to look him in the eyes. She was wearing a blue dress, which reached down to around her knees.

"You know already" Alex replied hoping to avoid having this discussion once more. Alex himself had taken over the gym at the age of 15, only a week before his own Pokémon journey had been set to begin. Alex had inherited the gym after his father, who had died just before Alex could leave on his journey. Alex had been training under his father as an eventual replacement for a few years, but he hadn't been supposed to replace him until after he had seen all of Gawaro and possibly other regions as well. Since no other candidate could be mustered on such short a note, Alex had stepped up and accepted the responsibility, until he finally, half a year later, received recognition by the Gawaro League Administration as an official Gym Leader.

At the time, Mia had only been 5 years of age, so she hadn't understood what was going on, only that her cousin suddenly came around less often. At the age of 12 she decided to help out her cousin at the gym and soon became his student. Now Mia had turned 15 years old and wanted to take over the gym. It was a discussion they had had many times, though recently it had gotten a lot more frequent.

Mia saw the dark shadows that crossed Alex's face and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry" she said and meant it. She had not intended to stir up the past. Though it was a decade ago, there was still an open wound deep inside Alex.

He gave her a sad smile. "It is okay" he said, and cupped her chin, raising her head. "I know you did not mean it."

"But still…" Mia started.

"Do not worry about it" Alex said. "I still do not think you are ready to be a Gym Leader, but I will let you have a shot."

"You mean that?" Mia said, her eyes sparkling.

"Of course I do. Now calm down" Alex said with a grin and raised his hands as if to grab her shoulders and hold her still but Mia didn't pay attention as she started to jump up and down, spinning around, crying out screams of joy.

The doors at the side of the room opened. Alex turned his head, but otherwise kept his position. Mia stopped bouncing and looked the same way. In the doorway were two young boys, seemingly around her age. A stunned look was on both boys faces, before one of them reached for the door and closed it.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Tyson asked his friend once they had shut the door.

"Well, there was a pool of water behind them" Casey started reasoning. "The sign over the door does say 'Pirepsah City Gym' and according to the map this should be the place." Casey paused. "But why there's a grown man about to touch a young girl in there is beyond me."

"Maybe the Gym Leader is some kind of pervert?" Tyson asked.

Before Casey could reply to that the door was flung open and the girl rushed out planting her fist straight in Tyson's face knocking him over. "My cousin isn't a pervert" she panted.

"Now, now" the man said as he came over to the door as well. "I am sure this is all just a misunderstanding." He extended a hand to Tyson and helped him up. "My name is Alex and I am the Gym Leader of this gym. The girl here is my cousin and apprentice, Mia."

"Sorry about that punch" she said with a smile. "I hope you won't hold it against me."

"I… uh… um…" Tyson stuttered.

"My name is Casey" Casey said and extended his hand. "This is my friend, Tyson." Tyson mumbled a greeting. "We're here to challenge the gym."

"That's amazing!" Mia screeched. "It just so happens that I'm being appointed Gym Leader, so let's get going so I can beat you."

"Not so fast, Mimi" Alex said. Mia instantly cooled down and scowled at her cousin, which Casey noted must be due to the nickname. "It is true you would get the next challenge, but that challenge is not today."

"Why not?" Mia, Casey and Tyson asked as one.

Alex sighed. "I can understand our new friends here not knowing, but really – you forgot, Mia?" Mia looked confused, before it dawned on her.

"Of course" she said with sudden realization. "The Tag Team Tournament is today."

"Right and it is being held here in the gym" Alex said. "That is why we cannot accept your challenge today, boys. I am sorry to disappoint you."

"It's fine" Casey said. "After all, we were thinking of entering the Tag Team Tournament too, although we didn't know it would be held already."

"So, you boys are entering the tournament" Alex said with a strange tone of voice. "It just so happens that we are as well."

"You are?" Tyson asked, finally finding his voice again. "But isn't that sort of unfair, you being a Gym Leader and all?"

"What about me?" Mia asked but was ignored.

"I may be a Gym Leader but first and foremost, I am a trainer" Alex replied. "And as trainers, Mia and myself can both participate in the tournament. According to the planners and sponsors it would also be good publicity." Casey chuckled; earning him mixed looks from the rest of the group. "But since you're going to be part of the tournament, let me tell you this…"

_Sunday the 18th of Silversun_

_10:15, Pirepsah City Gym_

During their talk with Alex and Mia, Alex had explained that they would have to register for the tournament before they could take part in it. The way to do that was to go over to a computer, either in the Pokémon Center or right there in the gym, and fill out a form online. The rest would be apparent from the form. Mia had then guided them to a computer and left the boys to register.

"Okay, let's try this" Casey said and opened the form. "Name… Casey. Age… 15. Hometown… Nesot Village" Casey read aloud as he plotted in the information required. He answered a few more questions and clicked next. The screen now told him to insert his Pokédex into the reader slot. Casey did as he was told and plugged in the Pokédex. A few seconds passed, as the computer scanned through the Pokédex, collecting the required information. Finally, the form told him that he had successfully registered for the tournament. A box appeared asking Casey if he wanted to browse through the Pokédex. Looking at Tyson who shrugged, he clicked 'yes'.

A window appeared with three distinct columns. The middle column contained a list of Pokémon, with three options at the top; 'Known', 'Scanned' and 'Owned.' By default it was set to 'Scanned.' The column to the left, or the first column if going by numeric order, showcased a three dimensional model of the Pokémon. To the right of the list were various statistics, such as how many Pokémon had been registered as owned and scanned.

"It fits" Casey said. "I own exactly 2 Pokémon."

"Now let me register" Tyson said and Casey removed his Pokédex. Tyson filled out the form as well and when asked to insert his Pokédex he did, waiting until it had gathered the needed information, then answered 'yes' to browse the Pokédex.

"Let's see here… Scanned… 22. That can't be right" Tyson said.

"Maybe Professor Willows had them synchronized so anything scanned by me counts as scanned for you as well?" Casey replied, offering the only explanation he could think of.

"Hmm, I guess" Tyson replied. "But then this is definitely wrong" he continued. "Look here, it says I've caught 3 Pokémon, but all I have are Corona and Clamper."

"Try clicking on 'Owned'" Casey said, just as curious as his friend. Tyson clicked on the 'Owned' option and the list shrunk to list only 3 Pokémon. The boys stared at the screen, as if staring might provide the answer they wanted. "Try clicking on it" Casey said. Tyson clicked and a new window opened, containing information about the Pokémon, listing how many of the species Tyson had caught as well as when they had been caught.

"Okay, so I've caught 1 of them, but when?" Tyson asked, scratching his head.

"It says so right there" Casey pointed to the screen. "You caught a single one yesterday."

"No I didn't" Tyson protested. "I tried to catch a Drilbur, but it just reflected my… Poké Ball…" The two boys looked at each other as realization dawned on them. "That's gotta be it!" Tyson exclaimed. "When the Drilber reflected my Poké Ball, it must have accidentally hit this one, trapping it inside."

"Or it stumbled upon it and got trapped that way" Casey said, offering an alternate option. "At any rate, you're a Pokémon richer."

"Yeah and I think it will have its debut in the tournament" Tyson said.

"Just don't use it in our first battle" Casey said.

"Why's that?"

"Because" Casey replied. "Right now, that Pokémon is our secret weapon."

_Sunday the 18th of Silversun_

_10:45, Pirepsah City Gym_

The spectator seats in the Gym were filling up fast. Though the Gym could hold over a thousand people in the seats alone, there was barely a seat left and people were still filing in. Casey and Tyson watched the scene from the door to their small locker room, which had been assigned as their 'Break Room.'

"I guess Alex was right about one thing" Casey commented as another large group of spectators entered. "Having a Gym Leader battle in a tournament is great publicity."

The minutes dragged on forever as the boys waited for the tournament to start. Finally it was 11o'clock. The lights in the gym were dampened and a spotlight turned to a place next to the water stage. On that spot was Nurse Joy with a microphone in her hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen" she started and her voice rang out through the speakers. "Now is the time that you have all waited for. It is time to see a slew of hot-blooded battles which is guaranteed to give you thrill. Ladies and gentlemen, the Pirepsah City Tag Team Tournament has now begun!"

* * *

**A nice, little, relaxing chapter. Everybody needs a break now and then, especially our heroes.**

**I wanted this to be a humorous break-chapter, much akin to chapter 3 in Barme Town. My only real complaint about this chapter, is the scene when the boys opens the door, only to find (what to them looks like) Alex about to grope Mia. I'm not sure if I pulled it off well enough or not, so I'll let you be the judge of that.**

**While you're judging, how did you like the backstory you were told for Alex? I know I didn't do much for Mia this chapter, but I think it's a somewhat plausible reason, for why we see teens controlling gyms in the anime and games.**

**So, next chapter we begin the semi-long-awaited Pirepsah City Tag Team Tournament (from now on in comments referred to as PCTTT, which is just as hard to say 5 times out loud). Just what will happen? Will it be a piece of cake? Or will the tournament utter destroy Casey and Tyson?**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

?; ?; Nickname: ?; Type: ?; Ability: ?; Current Moves: ?


	11. Tag Team Tournament, First Round!

**Welcome back everyone. This time, we're going to start the Tag Team Tournament you've been waiting for ever since it was first mentioned 3 chapters ago. I do hope it lives up to your expectations, so lets get to the reading part :).  
**

**Credit goes to Pikachu0311 for the OC of Blake Hideki, who appears in this chapter.**

**UPDATE: I have decided, based on poll-results from the last week, to create a forum, which can be found here: forum/Students-of-the-Gawaro-Chronicles/135644/. **

**Currently Submitted OC's: 4. Currently Used OC's : 1 (0 in planning).**

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Tag Team Tournament, First Round!**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_11:01, Pirepsah City Gym_

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Pirepsah City Tag Team Tournament has now begun!" As Nurse Joy finished her sentence the crowd went wild with applause. Casey and Tyson, both of whom were still standing in the door to their assigned locker room, cheered as well. "The tournament is a regular single-elimination tournament" Nurse Joy continued and the applause died out. "That means once you lose, you're out. This time around we have 12 teams participating but since the quarter-finals are held with 8 teams and the eighth-finals normally contain 16 teams, 4 teams have been seeded by random. You can always keep track of current team progressions on the large view screen." Nurse Joy pointed to a large television screen hanging on one of the walls, which showed the tournament brackets. The first three layers were standard enough, but for the fourth layer, only every other bracket led into a match-up. "Now, let's see who are seeded." The different seeded teams were revealed.

"Hey, we're seeded" Tyson said.

"Yeah, and we'll be fighting whoever makes it through the first match of the first round" Casey added.

"Now let us see who will be opening this tournament" Nurse Joy said and the screen zoomed in on the first bracket. A series of pictures flashed on the screen, until they finally came to rest on two teams. "It's been decided folks" Nurse Joy exclaimed. "First off we have Alexis and Jasmine, both seasoned trainers from Dalemer Town." A pair of twin girls walked into the arena and got up on their platform. Both of them had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. They were tall, slim of build and dressed alike, both wearing a summer-green dress. "Facing them, we have a pair of trainers from Lasidoet Town, Ben and Trevor." Two boys walked in, though unlike the girls they didn't resemble each other at all. One of them was tall and dark-skinned, wearing a green T-shirt. The other was a little shorter and white, with a red T-shirt. They seemed to share an inside joke as they took their positions.

"Before we get started" Nurse Joy continued, "We'll go over the rules. First off, all trainers are allowed one Pokémon per match. Trainers may substitute between matches but can only use one Pokémon in any given match. Second, the matches are fought on a 5-minute time limit. If no decisive winner is found by the end of the five minutes, a winner is decided based on points awarded throughout the battle. The points are at the discretion of the judges only. The third and final rule, you lose a match if both Pokémon are unable to battle. If only one Pokémon is knocked out, you may still win and advance if you last the five minutes and win on points. Are the rules understood?" Both pair of trainers answered that they understood the rules.

"Alright then" Nurse Joy said. "It has been decided that the twin girls of Dalemer Town selects their Pokémon first. Trainers, release your Pokémon."

"I choose you, Paras" one of the girls called.

"You're my choice, Bellsprout" the other girl called. The two Poké Balls sailed through the air and opened, unleashing the Pokémon within. The two Pokémon landed on one of the many white foam-like platforms floating on the water-battlefield. One of them looked like an oversized, orange tick with mushrooms sprouting from its back; the other a thin sapling with a bell-like mouth.

"I've never seen those two before" Tyson muttered.

"I'm not much for admitting it, but neither have I" Casey said as he found his Pokédex.

"Bellsprout, the Flower Pokémon" the female voice read out from the green Pokédex. "A carnivorous Pokémon that traps and eats bugs. It appears to use its root feet to replenish moisture. A Bellsprout's thin and flexible body lets it bend and sway to avoid any attack, however strong it may be. From its mouth, it leaks a fluid that melts even iron."

"Paras, the Mushroom Pokémon" Casey's Pokédex continued as he pointed it at the other Pokémon. "Paras has parasitic mushrooms growing on its back called tochukaso. They grow large by drawing nutrients from this Bug Pokémon host. They are highly valued as a medicine for extending life."

"And now, for the trainers from Lasidoet Town" Nurse Joy said and gestured for the two boys on stage to select their Pokémon.

"I choose you, Yanma" the tall boy said.

"Let's go, Gligar" the smaller said. Both boys threw their Poké Balls and the Pokémon appeared on the field. One of them, a purple scorpion-like Pokémon with membrane-like wings, stood on its tail on one of the platforms. The other, a predominantly green dragonfly, hovered next to it by beating its wings rapidly.

"Let's see here…" Casey mumbled and re-aimed the Pokédex.

"Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokémon. Through the use of its two large eyes, Yanma can see in all directions at once. Yanma is capable of beating its wings at a high rate of speed generating a powerful shockwave strong enough to shatter glass." Casey pointed the Pokédex at the other Pokémon. "Gligar, the FlyScorpion Pokémon. Gligar uses the cape-like wings on its back to fly from tree to tree quickly and quietly. It clamps on to its chosen prey then jabs the stinger on its tail into the prey while it's stunned with surprise."

"Seems like a no brainer if you ask me" Tyson remarked, looking at the Pokémon about to do battle.

"I'm with you on that one" Casey agreed.

"Trainers, are you ready to fight?" Nurse Joy asked. Affirmative answers came from all four trainers. "Then the first match of the eighth-finals will begin!"

"First come, first serve" the tall boy in the green shirt said. "Yanma, use SonicBoom!" The oversized dragonfly moved towards the opposing side of the arena and flapped its wings faster, sending visible white, crescent-shaped attacks towards the two Grass-types.

"Bellsprout, try to dodge the SonicBoom" one of the twins cried.

"Paras, you too" the other twin called. The two Pokémon jumped; Bellsprout to the right and Paras to the left, both aiming for a new platform. The crescent-shaped bursts of energy hit the platform to no effect.

"Gligar, aim for Bellsprout with Fury Cutter!" the other boy called. Gligar, who was balancing on its tail, used it as a spring and catapulted through the air, then extended its membrane-wings to steer towards Bellsprout, both claws glowing a soft green. The Grass-type could do nothing to avoid the attack and Gligar delivered a devastating attack. The force of the impact sent Bellsprout flying towards the edge of the arena.

"Quick, use Vine Whip to stay on the field" one of the twins called out. Bellsprout drew back a leaf it used as hands, then extended it and a vine shot out from the joint. The vine grabbed hold of a platform and Bellsprout withdrew the vine. But rather than letting go of the platform, the Flower Pokémon was propelled towards the platform and landed safely.

"What a brilliant save" Nurse Joy, who also functioned as MC for the day, commented.

"They aren't half bad" the short boy remarked.

"No, but we're better" the tall said. "Yanma, it's time for Aerial Ace." The green dragonfly, which had returned to its trainer's side, made a loop and increased its speed towards the opponents. "Aim at Paras!" Yanma altered its course and sped towards Paras, glowing blue.

"Paras, defend with PoisonPowder!" the other twin called. Paras seemed to shake its mushrooms a little, before releasing a big purple cloud of poisonous spores directly between Paras and Yanma.

"Now, Yanma. Change course and go for Bellsprout" the tall boy called. Yanma made a sharp turn and was now rapidly closing in on a surprised, and still recovering, Bellsprout. The slipstream left behind by Yanma blew the Poisonous cloud back at Paras, which shook as the poison took effect. Yanma impacted with Bellsprout, who had no time to prepare for the attack. The Grass-type was flung from its platform and into the water, where it on reflex extended a vine to grab hold of the platform, so as not to sink.

"Gligar, let's attack before Paras can recover" the other boy said. The FlyScorpion Pokémon soared through the air towards Paras. "Use X-Scissor!" Gligar's claws started to glow a soft green.

"Paras!" one of the twins screamed to no avail. The small Bug-type was shaking as its own poison coursed through its body. It looked up just as Gligar impacted with it and was sent flying backwards. It landed on another platform at the edge of the basin.

"Those two are really good" Tyson said as he and Casey watched the battle unfold.

"Indeed" Casey agreed. "But the downside is that they will be our opponents if they win."

"What?!" Tyson exclaimed. Casey simply pointed to the screen displaying the brackets. Tyson looked at it and saw that Casey was right. Their opponent would be whoever won this match. "You're right" he said simply.

"Bellsprout, use Wrap on Gligar!" one of the twins called. The Flower Pokémon, which had gotten back up on the platform, flung an angry vine at Gligar. The purple gliding Pokémon tried to dodge, but didn't have the momentum left for it. The vine wrapped around it and squeezed it tight.

"Paras, use PoisonPowder again" the other twin called. Paras shakily got to its legs and jumped to a closer platform, before releasing another cloud of toxic powder.

"Yanma, blow that poison away with SonicBoom!" the taller boy called. Yanma gained altitude and released another powerful burst of energy. But the attack came too late, as the cloud had already settled over Gligar, causing it to shiver in pain.

"Gligar, you okay?" the smaller boy called. Gligar turned its head and attempted a smile, but it turned out to be more of a grimace. Turning to his partner, he said: "We need to finish this now."

His partner sighed. "I was hoping to have a little more fun with them. But if you insist… Yanma, use Aerial Ace on Bellsprout."

"Brilliant move" Casey muttered as Yanma glowed blue and sped towards Bellsprout. "Bellsprout can't move right now, unless it wants to break its Wrap-attack."

"Bellsprout, drag Gligar in front of the attack" the first twin called. Much to everyone's surprise, Bellsprout moved the many times heavier Pokémon with ease and positioned it perfectly between itself and the incoming Yanma. The dragonfly-like Pokémon had too much speed to brake or change direction and flew straight into its partner, hurting it.

"Paras, use Stun Spore" the other twin called and Paras unleashed a cloud of orange spores, which settled over Yanma.

"What an incredible reversal" Nurse Joy commented. "With just two moves, Jasmine and Alexis have taken complete control of this battle. Even though they have the type disadvantage, the poison and paralysis are bound to help them. With just over 3 minutes left on the clock, nothing is decided yet."

"They are making a fool of us" the smaller of the boys said.

"Not for long" the tall one replied. "Yanma" he called. "I know it's tough, but you've got to hang in there and fight that paralysis. Use SonicBoom on Bellsprout, now!" The green dragonfly regained some altitude once more and flapped its wings, sending out more crescent-shaped bursts of energy. The attack hit Bellsprout straight on and knocked the Pokémon away, forcing it to release Gligar from the vines.

"Bellsprout!" its trainer called, but the Pokémon didn't get back up.

"Bellsprout is unable to battle" Nurse Joy said. "This leaves Alexis alone with her Paras against both opponents."

"Gligar, let's end this" the smaller boy said. "Use Fury Cutter!" Gligar got to its feet and slowly rose up to stand on its tail. Then it took to the air and headed for Paras. It sliced it hard with green-glowing claws and Paras was knocked over, not moving.

"And Paras is unable to battle as well" Nurse Joy said. "The winners of the first match are Ben and Trevor." The crowd roared and applauded the winners. On the screen, Jasmine and Alex's portraits were removed and Ben and Trevor's photos moved up to the bracket with Casey and Tyson's photos.

"Guess we're in for a tough match" Tyson said.

"Yeah" Casey replied. "Those two have definitely tried this before. We'll have to talk our strategy through beforehand."

"What an exciting first match" Nurse Joy began and the crowd fell silent. "Now we'll move on to the next match. First we have a pair of trainers from the Sinnoh region. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dean and Peter."

A pair of youths entered the stage. They looked to be a little younger than Casey and Tyson, but both were tall for their age. One of them was wearing a yellow shirt and blue shorts. Brown hair peaked out from below the rim of his white cap, which had a D on it – Casey deduced that the youth must be Dean. That made the other boy Peter, which was confirmed by a red P on his white shirt. He had a black pair of shorts to go with the shirt and both were smiling at the audience. Dean waved his hands at the onlookers and flashed a smile, causing some of the girls in the audience to squeal.

"And their opponents are the first pair not to hail from the same city today" Nurse Joy continued as Dean and Peter took the stage. "Everyone, please welcome Blake from Relyb City and Sean from Barme Town!" A shock passed through Casey and Tyson as Nurse Joy announced the next pair of competitors. Both of them turned to stare at the other end of the stage and saw that their suspicions had been confirmed.

It was Sean. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl, as the boys watched Sean slowly walk up to the watery stage. His brown hair was as short as it had been when they first met Sean only two weeks ago. It was also just as curly. There was a determined look in his blue eyes. He was dressed in a blue jacket and a pair of red pants.

His partner was a curiosity as well. Blake, as Nurse Joy had called him, was a tall youth of the same age as them, standing well over 1.8 meters in height. His hair was black as night and hung loosely down to his neck. He had blue eyes like Sean; however his was filled with warmth. He was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans and smiled and waved at the audience, unlike Sean who simply focused on the stage.

"Sean…" Casey mumbled, as he thought back to their first encounter with Sean. They had arrived in Barme Town at the end of the first day of their adventure and after their evening meal they had set out to explore the town. During their tour of the town, they had arrived at a clock tower, where an old man had told them of a legend regarding said tower. It was after that legend that Sean had appeared. Tyson had almost gotten in a fight with him too and Casey had barely gotten him out of it. And now here he was.

"Sean" Tyson grumbled. "I still have a bone to pick with that guy."

"You're the one who insulted him, remember?" Casey said to his friend. "Besides, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Let's give the guy a chance and see what he's got."

Tyson grumbled but settled down, though not by much.

"Trainers, choose your Pokémon" Nurse Joy said.

"Since we're fighting on a water-field, I say we use that to our advantage, eh bro?" Dean said.

"Gotcha covered" Peter replied. "I choose you, Quilfish!"

"Let's go, Octillery" Dean called.

Both trainers threw their Poké Balls into the air, which released a stream of energy that materialized into two distinctly different Pokémon. One of them was a red octopus, with yellow suction cubs on all tentacles. It had a snout-like nose, rounded like the shape of a barrel. The other was a grumpy-looking puffer fish with spikes. It was a dark shade of blue on top and cream on the bottom. Its tail was the shape of a spade.

"Aw, man" Tyson whined as he absent-minded rubbed his leg. "Not more angry fish." Casey snickered and found his Pokédex.

"Qwilfish, the Balloon Pokémon" the Pokédex started in its female voice. "The quills covering the entire body have evolved from scales and inject a toxin that causes fainting. A Qwilfish can cause its body to swell in order to shoot its needles in all directions." Casey pointed at the Pokémon and the Pokédex continued. "Octillery, the Jet Pokémon and the evolved form of Remoraid. It will instinctively sneak into rocky holes. It locks onto opponents with its leg suckers, then rams them with its rock-hard head. It sometimes sprays ink on prey by sticking out only its mouth."

"What a lot of new Pokémon we're seeing" Casey said.

"How can you be so happy about mean fish?" Tyson grumbled.

"Sandile, I choose you!" Blake called and released his Pokémon as well. From the energy that was released came a small crocodile-like creature, in brown and black stripes. It had a soft, pink underbelly and small claws at the end of each foot. The color around its eyes made it appear to be wearing a mask.

"Sandile, the Desert Croc Pokémon" Casey's Pokédex said as he scanned it. "A dark membrane protects its eyes from the sun, and it buries itself in the sand with its eyes and nose sticking out."

"But Sandile is a Ground-type" Tyson said, wondering aloud. "They even had the advantage of going second and he still chose a type weak to both the field and the opponent. Looks like the brat found a stupid partner."

"I think you're going to have to eat your own words" Casey said. "The look on his face tells me that it's completely intentional. It takes a lot of skill and strength to deliberately go with a bad match-up."

"Hmm" Tyson grunted.

"A Sandile?" Sean asked his partner flatly in a low voice.

"Don't you worry" Blake said with a smile. "It'll all be okay."

"Tsk" Sean frowned and whipped his head away, then looked back at the arena. He found a Poké Ball and tossed it. "I choose you, Spheal!" A small, round animal appeared on one of the platforms and jumped hastily into the water. Its blue fur was dotted with white specks.

"Trainers, are you ready to fight?" Nurse Joy asked. Affirmative answers came from all four trainers. "Then the second match of the eighth-finals will begin!"

* * *

**There you have it folks, the first chapter of the tournament. The chapter contained a few call-backs, so how many did you spot? There's an obvious call-back to chapter 3, where the pair reached Barme Town, but also a not so obvious call-back to the, so far, unseen scene with Tyson and an angry Goldeen, mentioned in chapter 5.  
**

**The two girls really didn't stand a chance against the boys from Lasidoet, but I wanted to give them a shot at a reversal. Too bad the type match-up proved to hard a hurdle to overcome. But what did you think of the battle?**

**And more importantly, are you looking forward to the next one? I know I am.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

?; ?; Nickname: ?; Type: ?; Ability: ?; Current Moves: ?


	12. Rival Victories!

**Welcome back everyone, to a special treat. That's right 2(!) updates this week. Why is that, you ask? Does it matter? I reply :).**

**I know a lot of you are wondering how Sean and Blake will fare with a Ground-type and an Ice/Water-type, so how about we get to it?  
**

**Credit goes to Pikachu0311 for the OC of Blake Hideki, who appears in this chapter.**

**Currently Submitted OC's: 4. Currently Used OC's : 1**

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Rival Victories!**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_11:17, Pirepsah City Gym_

"Trainers, are you ready to fight?" Nurse Joy asked. Affirmative answers came from all four trainers. The two teams consisted of Dean and Peter from the Sinnoh region; with the opposition being Sean and his partner Blake. The two Sinnoh trainers had chosen a Quilfish and Octillery respectively, with Blake having chosen a Sandile and Sean a Spheal. "Then the second match of the eighth-finals will begin!"

"Let's aim for the Sandile first" Dean shouted, both to his partner and his Pokémon. "Octillery, use BubbleBeam!" The red squid sucked in breath before shooting out a rapid stream of small, blue bubbles from its barrel-like mouth. The bubbles went straight for Sandile. The bubbles were a lot smaller than the ones Ruffer could currently use, Casey noted, and they flew faster too. For a brief moment he wondered if Ruffer could learn to use BubbleBeam, then dismissed the thought as he continued to watch the battle.

"Sandile, jump upwards" Blake called and Sandile obeyed. It crouched down, as much as possible for a creature already low to the ground, then straightened its legs and jumped high into the air. The crowd gasped collectively as they saw the height which Sandile jumped to. The stream of bubbles impacted the platform without any effect.

"Quilfish, hit it with a Water Gun while it's still airborne" Peter called. His Balloon Pokémon swelled up to triple size, then let out a stream of water as it slowly deflated. The stream shot hastily towards the Desert Croc Pokémon, though it didn't appear to be panicked about it.

"Please, so predictable" Blake said with an air of superiority. "Sandile, encase yourself in a Sand Tomb!" Sandile opened its mouth and gashed out a stream of sand. The sand started to swirl around Sandile, forming a protective cocoon. The attack impacted the shell, but nothing happened. As the water let up, the shell around Sandile dissipated, spraying the sand everywhere on the platform below it. Sandile itself, however, was unharmed.

"What an amazing defense" Nurse Joy commented.

"Thanks" Blake interrupted her before she could continue. "I actually got the idea from a contest battle I saw once" Blake explained.

"You should have just counter-attacked" Sean said unimpressed. "Like this! Spheal, use Body Slam on Octillery." The small blue Clap Pokémon shot out of the water into the air and angled towards Octillery.

"You've just left yourself wide open!" Dean shouted. "Octillery, use Octazooka at full power!"

"This is it, folks" Nurse Joy said eagerly. "Octazooka is Octillery's signature move."

"Octe!" Octillery cried out as it sucked in air and fired a powerful stream of an ink-like fluid towards the descending Spheal. A look of panic crossed Spheal's face.

"Spheal, use Aurora Beam!" Sean commanded. Spheal composed itself and fired a beam from its mouth downwards at the incoming attack. The beam glistened like a rainbow and shone with all its colors – it was a beautiful sight to behold. The crowd marveled at the beauty of it. The two attacks collided and for a moment it seemed they were equal. Then, slowly, the water buckled inwards and then gushed out to either side like a fountain, as the Aurora Beam pressed through it towards Octillery. The attack connected before Dean could react and Octillery was hit and pushed below water, where it got free from the attack.

"Octillery!" Dean called.

"I see you distraction and raise you an attack" Blake said cheerfully. Everyone's attention turned back to the Sandile, which had landed again without anyone seeing it. "Sandile, a Mud-Slap at Quilfish, if you please." Sandile grunted and spun around, whipping at something on the ground with its tail. It took a moment before anyone realized what happened.

"Impressive" Casey said, a smile at the edge of his lips. "Blake used the sand from before that had been hit by the water and now turned to mud to shoot at Quilfish." Just as Casey had said, a lump of mud flew towards Quilfish.

"Let's dodge that, Quilfish" Peter called. "Go under the water, then resurface behind Sandile." Quilfish obeyed and dived below the surface mere seconds before the mud would have hit it.

"A surprise attack doesn't work if I know about it" Blake teased.

"Octillery, use BubbleBeam!" Dean called. Blake whipped his head around, shouting something unintelligible. Octillery, which had gotten back to the surface, launched a powerful beam consisting of small bubbles towards Sandile.

"Tsk. Sandile, use Mud-sl…"

"Now, Quilfish" Peter called. "Poison Sting!" The puffer fish sprang out of the water and rapidly increased in size, sending a shower of small, purple needles at Quilfish. There was no time to act. Sandile couldn't protect against both attacks – the Poison Sting was simply too close.

"Sandile, use Mud-Slap, quick!" Blake shouted, and prayed that it could withstand the needles. Sandile understood and shot out a series of mud balls from its mouth, aiming straight at the incoming BubbleBeam. The two attacks collided the exact moment that Quilfish's Poison Sting impacted with Sandile. The small brown crocodile cried out as the needles stung it, though didn't seem to suffer much damage.

"Ice Ball, go!" Sean commanded and his Spheal launched a small, uneven ball of ice at Octillery, who took the attack to the back of its large head. It cried out in pain and submerged itself, avoiding the rest of the Mud-Slap.

"Thanks for the help" Blake said as Sandile turned to Quilfish, which had dived below the water again. Sean grunted but otherwise didn't reply. Spheal made its way back to Sandile and both turned to face Octillery and Quilfish at the other end.

"What an exciting match" Nurse Joy commented. "After only a minute, no one side seems to have a distinct advantage."

"Tsk" Sean frowned. "This is nowhere near even."

"Actually, I'd say we are pretty even" Blake replied cheerfully.

"We would be clearly in the lead if you stopped fooling around" Sean replied back.

Blake stood there for a second, before he recovered his composure. Then with a smile, he asked: "Saw right though me, did you?" He shook his head. "When did you realize it?"

"The moment you used Sand Tomb to protect yourself from the water" Sean replied, his eyes focused on the battle.

"Then I suppose I had better get serious" Blake said with a smile. Then he changed, only a little and very subtle, but Casey immediately noticed the difference. The life in his eyes had gone out, replaced with a sense of duty and determination. "Sandile, use Sand Tomb on Octillery." The small brown crocodile sprayed out sand, which flew towards the red octopus, now standing on a platform.

"Quick, Octillery" Dean shouted. "Use Octazooka to repel the sand." The squid sucked in air and shot out a powerful stream of ink, heading straight towards the sand. The two attacks collided with equal force and neither seemed to give in.

"Spheal, use Ice Ball" Sean said without emotion and another, slightly larger, chunk of ice flew straight at Octillery. Once more the ball of ice hit its target and the water stopped, causing the sand to once more shoot towards its opponent and envelop it in a tornado of sand.

"Octillery, we have to break out of there" Dean called. "Try to blow it away with your tentacles." Inside the sand-vortex, Octillery raised a single tentacle, then shot it out towards the tornado of sand. But apart from Octillery getting hit by the sand, nothing happened. The tornado did not relent.

"Dean, are you and Octillery okay?" Peter asked.

"We'll be fine" Dean answered. "You take care of that Sandile."

"Right" Peter said, then looked towards Sandile. "Quilfish, use Water Gun, now." Quilfish swelled to triple size and then deflated as it shot out a stream of water towards Sandile.

"Sandile, counter with Mud-Slap" Blake called. Sandile complied and opened its mouth, shooting a series of small muddy spheres towards Quilfish. The two attacks impacted with one another and cancelled each other out.

"Octillery, use Ice Beam!" Dean called. Inside the cocoon of sand, Octillery started building up power in its snout, before firing a ragged beam of energy, which started to freeze the sand on contact. Soon, a shell of ice rather than sand surrounded it.

"Ice Ball, now" Sean said and Spheal fired another, even larger, ball of ice at the ice wall. The attack hit the wall and the impact shattered the flimsy ice-structure, raining shards of ice at Octillery. Being trapped within, Octillery could do nothing to evade and took the blow head-on. It cried out as the large chunk of ice hit its snout.

"New plan, we go for the Spheal" Dean called angry. "Octillery, I want an Octazooka at full power!" Octillery sucked in its breath and fired a strong stream of ink.

"Quilfish, lets help with Poison Sting!" Peter called. The puffer fish expanded rapidly, sending purple, toxic needles flying towards Spheal.

"How about I give you a hand with that?" Blake asked with a smile. Then, without waiting for a reply, he gave an order to his Sandile. "Quick, use Sand Tomb!" Sandile gushed out a stream of sand, which impacted the heavy stream of water. The two attacks were of equal strength and neither could push the other attack back. The needles, however, continued on.

"Ice Ball" Sean said and Spheal fired yet another huge sphere of ice, this time larger than itself. Despite its size, the ball travelled fast and easily broke through the needles without losing speed.

"Quilfish!" Peter shouted as the small fish was hit by the large attack. Quilfish was flung through the air and hit the edge of the arena, then slid down the side into the water, where it floated still in the water.

"Oh no!" Nurse Joy called in the microphone. "It seems Quilfish is unable to battle, leaving Dean to face the might of Blake and Sean."

"I'm sorry, Quilfish" Peter said as he withdrew his Pokémon. "Dean, it's up to you now."

"I got it, bro" Dean replied. "Octillery, disengage and hide in the water." The red octopus stopped its attack and sprang into the water, causing the sand to impact with the platform harmlessly. "Now come up and it that Spheal with an Ice Beam!" Octillery jumped out of the water behind Sandile and Spheal and shot a ragged white beam from its nose, aimed at Spheal.

"Spheal, into the water" Sean said calmly. The Clap Pokémon obeyed and jumped quickly into the water and Octillery missed.

"Sandile, a Bite attack, if you will" Blake said. Sandile launched itself at Octillery and grabbed hold of a single tentacle. Octillery shrieked with pain, as the Desert Croc sank its teeth into the soft flesh.

"Spheal, launch the final Ice Ball attack!" Sean called, a hint of emotion finally in his voice. Spheal did as told and jumped into the air. Above waters, Octillery and Sandile had landed on the platform and Spheal took aim, still in mid-air. It launched its attack, a ball of ice twice Spheals size, and was knocked back by the recoil. The ball flew fast and Sandile only managed to let go and dodge the attack at the last possible second before the ice orb impacted with Octillery. Octillery was knocked back and fell into the water, then floated to the top, not moving.

"And Octillery is unable to battle as well" Nurse Joy called. "This means that the winners are Sean and Blake!" The crowd went wild with applause. Blake seemed to enjoy it and waved back at the audience, while Sean was already heading for the locker room.

"I have to admit, that was a pretty amazing battle" Tyson said grudgingly.

"Told you" Casey said. "That Sean sure is something else, though" he continued. "I mean, back when we met him in Barme Town… He did say he was a trainer, but I had no idea he'd be this strong."

"And that Blake guy he teamed up with, is pretty amazing too" Tyson said. "The way he used that Sandile was just brilliant."

"Yeah, but let's see the next match" Casey said and they fell silent as Nurse Joy presented the third match. This time around, the battle consisted of two trainers from the Johto region versus a pair of trainers from Nellacnari City, which Casey explained was on the eastern side of Gawaro, near the ocean. The two trainers from Nellicnari City sent out a pair of Heracross, which was swiftly dealt with by the Johto trainers Fire-type Pokémon, Slugma and Ponyta.

"And now it's time for the fourth battle of the eighth-finals" Nurse Joy declared. "And it's a battle I'm sure you've been waiting for. On one side we have the Gym Leader, Alex, and his apprentice, Mia." The crowd went wild as the two cousins took the stage. Alex had donned a rather spectacular blue kimono, which made it look as if he was the ocean whenever he walked. By contrast, Mia was wearing a simple light-blue T-shirt and a pair of shorts a darker shade. Her red hair was set up in a ponytail. "And their first opponents are a pair of trainers here from Pirepsah City, William and Robert." A pair of boys walked in. There was nothing distinctly special about them, other than their bad luck to go against the pair of Gym Leaders in their first round.

"Trainers, choose your Pokémon" Nurse Joy said and gestured for Alex and Mia to go first.

"Come out, Wooper" Alex said and elegantly sent his Poké Ball sailing through the air, which opened to release a small, bi-pedal Pokémon with a round body and twig-like antennae.

"Come out, Horsea!" Mia called and flung her Poké Ball into the field, which revealed a small, blue seahorse, with a trumpet-like mouth.

"I choose you, Loudred!" Robert called and a large, blue Pokémon with an enormous mouth appeared. Its ears resembled speakers.

"Go, Jiggplypuff!" William shouted and a small, round balloon-shaped Pokémon appeared.

"So Alex and Mia are Water-type Gym Leaders" Tyson muttered.

Casey stared flatly at him. "What tipped you off?" he asked drily. "The water basin that is the field, the outside décor, or perhaps their clothing?"

Tyson stared back at him uncomprehending. "No, they use a Wooper and Horsea" he replied. "They are Water-types."

Casey stared at him for a moment longer, then sighed.

"Trainers, begin the match!" Nurse Joy called.

"We need to hit them hard and hit them fast" William said. "Jigglypuff, get in close with a DoubleSlap on Wooper."

"Loudred, go along and use Bite!" Robert called and the two Normal-types started making their way across the platforms.

"Alright, now's our chance" Mia said excited. "Horsea, use Bubble…" She was stopped by a gesture from Alex.

"How about you let me take those two down?" he said, not unkindly, but Mia still puffed her cheeks and pouted. "Wooper, I'd like one Mud Bomb, aimed at Loudred's ears, please."

"Per!" the small Pokémon replied happily. It opened its mouth and shot a large ball of mud directly at Loudred.

"Defend, Loudred!" Robert called and the large Pokémon brought up a strong arm, blocking the shot. But the mud split in two and continued on, covering both ears in mud. Loudred stumbled backwards, partly from the blow, partly from the loss of hearing.

"Jigglypuff, now!" William called. Jigglypuff crossed the last platform and raised a small arm as it came at Wooper, ready to strike.

"Wooper, please use Slam" Alex said softly. Once more Wooper did as asked and spun around, bringing the full force of its tail bearing down on Jigglypuff. The Balloon Pokémon was knocked backwards into Loudred, who was trying to get on its feet. The two Normal-types collapsed in a heap. "Finally, clean it up with Water Gun." Wooper sucked in air, then spayed a stream of water at the two Pokémon, which were knocked into the side of the arena and landed on a platform. Seconds passed without either Pokémon moving.

"It seems that both Jigglypuff and Loudred are unable to battle" Nurse Joy said. "This means that Alex and Mia wins the match and advances." The crowd cheered, though Mia still looked petulant.

"And I didn't even get to do anything" she pouted as she returned Horsea.

"And with that, our first round comes to an end" Nurse Joy continued. "There will be a 5-minute break, before we continue on with the quarter-finals."

As the nurse stepped down, the crowd started to mumble amidst themselves, and conversation soon filled the Gym. Casey and Tyson were no exception as they readied themselves for the upcoming battle.

"Any ideas?" Tyson asked.

"Not really" Casey said. "They may have used Flying-types before, but that's no guarantee they will again."

"So we're going in blind?" Tyson asked.

"Seems like it" Casey replied.

Tyson made a fist and punched his other hand. "Then let's do it!"

A couple of minutes passed as the boys prepared themselves, before Nurse Joy reappeared on the big screen. "Welcome back" she started. "We're now ready to begin the next round, the quarter-finals. First, let me reintroduce Ben and Trevor." The crowd roared as the two trainers in red and green reappeared on stage. "And their opponents are newcomers to the tournament-scene, a pair of trainers from Nesot Village. Everybody, please welcome Casey and Tyson!"

"This is our cue" Casey said and the two friends started to walk towards the stage.

* * *

**Now, most of you had probably seen the victory coming from a mile away, but nevertheless, now it's official.**

**So how was the battle? Was it believable or was their victory an ass-pull? Was it well-deserved or did they achieve it too easily? I think a lot of you will now be excited about Casey and Tyson's upcoming battle, which is the reason I posted this chapter already. Otherwise, it would have posted next week and then you would have been left hanging for a month before their battle (more to come on that on Monday).**

**As always, leave a review whether you liked it or not and tell me why it is so.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

?; ?; Nickname: ?; Type: ?; Ability: ?; Current Moves: ?


	13. Aerial Assault!

**Welcome back, everyone, to chapter 13. I suppose it should be welcome forward and not back, as the story is progressing rather than regressing, thank God.**

**So, what's to say about this chapter... Well, for one thing, Casey and Tyson will finally be battling. Yay! So let's get to that, shall we?**

**Credit goes to Pikachu0311 for the OC of Blake Hideki, who appears in this chapter as well (it's a tournament after all, he's bound to show up every now and again throughout it).**

**Currently Submitted OC's: 4. Currently Used OC's : 1**

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Aerial Assault!**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_11:45, Pirepsah City Gym_

Casey and Tyson took their place on one end of the platform, staring at Ben and Trevor, their opponents from Lasidoet Town. The Lasidoet duo still wore their green and red T-shirt and stood with cocky smiles on their faces. They seemed sure of themselves, probably a side-effect of their victory over the girls from Dalemer Town earlier.

"Ben and Trevor, choose your Pokémon" Nurse Joy called out.

"I choose you, Tranquill" Trevor called and sent out his Pokémon. It was a medium-sized bird, with a grey underbelly and black stripes on its wings. The feathers on its forehead were red and it stared down at Casey and Trevor with its piercing, orange eyes.

"You're the one for me, Skarmory" Ben called, as a large bird with metallic blue feathers burst out of its Poké Ball. The underside of its wing-feathers were red and its dark tail had a small nick in it. Its claws looked powerful enough to grasp through iron and in height, the bird was as tall as Casey.

"So, they both did use Flying-types again" Casey mumbled as he found his Pokédex to scan the Skarmory.

"Skarmory, the Armor Bird Pokémon" the green Pokédex read out. A murmur spread throughout the hall as the audience saw Casey's Pokédex. "Its sturdy wings look heavy, but they are actually hollow and light, allowing it to fly freely in the sky at over 300 kilometers an hour. After nesting in bramble bushes, the wings of its chicks grow hard from scratches by thorns. The feathers that it sheds are very sharp. It is said that people once used the feathers as swords."

"What a scary Pokémon" Tyson said as Casey put away the Pokédex. "Are you sure we should save it?"

"Positive" Casey said, already trying to find a way to overcome their foes. "You should use Corona" Casey said after a few seconds as a strategy began to take form in his head.

"It's her or a Bug-type which is easy pickings…" Tyson mulled it over, then grabbed Corona's Poké Ball. "Come on, Corona!" The small fiery chick burst out of its Poké Ball and landed securely on a platform. It gave a stare at the opposition, but when it saw the two large birds staring down at it Corona screamed and tried to hide behind Tyson, causing the entire hall to roar with laughter. "Come on" Tyson pleaded. "There's nothing to be afraid of" Corona look up at him and Tyson picked her up. "Casey has a plan, you know" he said and stroked the small bird. "If we trust him, everything will be just fine."

"Chi?" Corona said and looked at Tyson, then over to Casey who smiled at her. "Tochi!" she said defiantly and jumped down from Tyson, ready to face down the two larger birds.

"Ruffer, let's go!" Casey shouted and sent out his Corphish. The red lobster-like Pokémon landed on the same platform as Corona and leered straight at the two big birds.

"Let's win this one" Tyson said.

"Yeah" Casey replied. _I just hope the plan I have is going to work_ he added silently, but there was no time to second guess himself.

"Trainers, start your battle!" Nurse Joy called and the battle was on.

"First come, first serve" the tall boy in the green shirt said, using the same opener as he had in his last battle. "Tranquill, use Quick Attack and aim for Torchic!"

"Skarmory, follow suit with Aerial Ace!" Ben called. The two birds took to the air and climbed up above the water-field. They took aim for the small, red bird and dived; one trailing a white light behind it, the other enveloped in a blue light.

_This better work!_ Casey thought desperately. "Ruffer, use Bubble!" he called. "But don't shoot it at the enemy, form a wall of bubbles!" Ruffer gave his trainer a quizzical look, but in the heat of battle decided to save it for later and did as told. The Corphish fired of a stream of bubbles that stopped about 2 meters above it. Instead, the cluster of bubbles grew bigger and bigger as the two birds raced ever closer.

"Corona, get behind Ruffer!" Tyson called and Corona dived behind the Ruffian Pokémon, taking shelter.

"Just what is he trying to do?" Trevor muttered.

Ben realized it for him. "Skarmory, abort your attack!" But the call came too late. The two incoming birds tried to pull up. Tranquill just managed to get clear of the bubbles but Skarmory's weight proved too much for such a sharp turn and the Armor Bird Pokémon ploughed straight through the cluster of bubbles, taking the attacks.

"Corona, use Ember before Skarmory gets a hold of itself!" Tyson shouted. The small red chick hopped up on Ruffer and shot out a cloud of soft embers that instantly made contact with Skarmory. The water droplets on Skarmory fizzled as they dried up and evaporated, turning to air.

"What a clever use of a Bubble attack" Nurse Joy commented.

"How did you think of that?" Tyson asked, as Skarmory withdrew.

"I thought of how that Blake-guy used Sand Tomb to defend himself" Casey replied, as if that explained everything.

"Aha" Tyson said flatly, as he gave his friend a blank stare.

"Tranquill, time for take two" Trevor called. "Use Air Cutter!" Tranquill, which were hovering near its trainer, gained some altitude before flapping its wings hard. As it did, several small shuriken-like energy blasts flew from it, heading towards Ruffer and Corona.

"Corona, jump quickly!" Tyson called and the small bird jumped to avoid the incoming blast.

"Ruffer, into the pool!" Casey shouted and his Corphish hopped backwards into the pool, swimming through the water. The shuriken impacted the platforms without effect.

"Fury Attack on Torchic!" Ben called.

"What?!" Tyson shouted as Skarmory appeared as of out of nowhere, diving towards Corona. As she was still airborne, she could do nothing to dodge and before Tyson could decide on a move, Skarmory smashed its beak into the small red bird twice, before drawing back its beak to deliver another, more powerful blow. The last attack sent Corona hurling down at the platform, where she landed with a heavy thud.

"Are you okay?" Tyson called.

"Tor Torchic" the small bird panted as it slowly got up.

"Alright, let's do a Focus Energy!" Corona tightened its focus and was, for a short moment, surrounded by a soft blue glow.

"Quick Attack!" Trevor called and Tranquill shot towards the Torchic, trailing a white light behind it.

"Now, use ViceGrip!" Casey called and Ruffer shot out of the pool, gripping Tranquill by the leg. The extra weight disturbed its course and Tranquill smashed into one of the floating platforms. Ruffer let go and jumped back as the bird tried to finds its footing again.

"Thanks for the save" Tyson said, wiping his brow.

"Don't mention it" Casey said and returned to the battle. "Ruffer, hit it with a Bubble attack!" The Corphish opened its mouth and shot a stream of the soft blue bubbles as Tranquill, who was too close to dodge.

"Tranquill, get out of there" its trainer called. Tranquill seemed to get ahold of itself and threw a wing out to dash away an incoming bubble, before taking flight and returning to its trainer's side.

"Skarmory, let's do another Aerial Ace!" Ben called and Skarmory started to glow blue as it hastily approached Tyson's Torchic.

"Ruffer, get in the way and use Harden!" Casey called. Ruffer quickly threw itself in front of Corona and hardened its body. Meanwhile, Skarmory was getting very close.

"Full power!" Ben called.

"You can take it, Ruffer!" Casey called.

The two Pokémon collided in a clash. Skarmory impacted Ruffer hard and Ruffer was being pushed a little backwards. However, the attack wasn't doing much damage thanks to Harden and the Corphish fought valiantly to hold its ground.

"Ruffer, use Leer!" The red lobster-like Pokémon shot the Armor Bird an angry look, but it didn't waver in its attack.

"Corona, hit it with an Ember!" Tyson called.

"Chi!" the small red bird said as it jumped to the side and fired a cloud of shining embers at Skarmory. It screeched and its attack let up a little, just enough for Ruffer to cast the flying opponent a little backwards.

"Air Cutter!" Trevor called and Tranquill flapped its wings hard from above Ruffer and Corona, sending another wave of energy shuriken down at them.

"Dodge it!" Casey and Tyson shouted in unison. The Pokémon dodged the same instant as they were told to; Corona by jumping backwards onto another platform, Ruffer by escaping into the water once more. Skarmory avoided the blast as well, but was looking tired. Tranquill, on the other hand, looked just fine.

"What an intense match" Nurse Joy called out. "And with just over 2 minutes left, who can say how this match will end?"

"I'm pretty sure we can" Ben said. "By us winning! Skarmory, use Fury Attack on Torchic!" The large metallic bird took to the air once more and dived at the small chick Pokémon.

"We'll just have to take it head-on, Corona!" Tyson said. "Use Scratch!" Torchic sprang towards Skarmory, but instead of having its claws shine a faint white, its beak shone and became longer instead. "I know that move" Tyson said as the two Pokémon closed in on each other. "It's Peck!" Skarmory launched its first attack, which the Torchic met head-on, by countering the Fury Attacks with its Peck. Skarmory tried again and again, but both times the small Corona countered it with ease. Skarmory prepared the final attack and whipped its head backwards, only to bring it bearing down on Corona with even more power. But this time, Corona saw through the move and waited for the right time. Just as Skarmory's beak was about to make contact, Corona whipped up a foot and grabbed hold of the beak, swung around to get up to Skarmory's head and attacked with all its might. Skarmory shrieked and fell down, landing heavily on a platform. Corona hopped off as if unhurt.

"Quick, hit it with Flame Burst before it can recover" Tyson called. The small red bird breathed in, then shot out a huge ball of fire, aimed at the grounded Skarmory directly in front of it. The connected almost instantly and the Armor Bird Pokémon shrieked, before sighing and slumping back down.

"Skarmory is unable to battle!" Nurse Joy said. "This means it's now 2-on-1 with 2 minutes left on the clock."

"Skarmory, return" Ben called and returned his Pokémon.

"Tranquill, keep up the attack" Trevor shouted. "Use Quick Attack!" The grey and black bird flapped its wings; then angled down at Torchic to take her from the side.

"Not a chance" Casey said. "Ruffer, get in there and use Bubble!" Ruffer jumped out of the water and placed itself between the two bird-like Pokémon. Then, it unleashed a stream of light-blue bubbles, which impacted Tranquill before it could evade.

"Keep going, Tranquill" Trevor called to his Pokémon. It did and it pressed through the bubbles, but the trailing light behind it had shortened and faded a little. Corona and Ruffer instinctively jumped sideways to avoid the hit, and Tranquill continued back over the field.

"It's been slowed down" Casey said, as he noticed the water droplets falling from its feathers.

"Then let's wrap this up" Tyson said. "Corona, Flame Burst!" Corona breathed in, then fired a fireball at Tranquill. Because of the added weight of the water, it was unable to steer clear of it, and was caught on the wing. Tranquill grimaced, but didn't seem to suffer much damage.

"In case you don't know, water tends to douse flames" Casey said as he massaged his forehead with a hand.

"But Ember worked fine on Skarmory after it went through your bubbles" Tyson said bewildered.

"That was a different scenario" Casey said and explained. "Skarmory is part Steel-type, so Fire-type attacks like Ember is highly effective. Furthermore, Ember is a cloud of small fires and heat, which heated the air around the droplets as well, causing them to dry up – kinda like how some girls blow dry their hair." Tyson nodded, as he followed Casey's line of thinking. "Flame Burst, on the other hand, is like setting fire to a wet piece of wood – it can be done but it takes a lot of fire as it first has to dry the wood."

"So because Tranquill was soaked, my Flame Burst had little effect" Tyson said as he understood what Casey was saying.

"Exactly" Casey replied. "Now can we please finish this off?"

"Right with you" Tyson replied.

"A little less than a minute on the clock, everyone" Nurse Joy said.

"Tranquill, let's finish up with Quick Attack!" Trevor shouted.

"Ruffer, use ViceGrip" Casey called.

"Corona, go with Peck!" Tyson chimed in.

The three Pokémon rushed towards one another, and the attacks hit simultaneously. Ruffer brought a large pincer forward and grabbed hold of one wing, clipping it. Corona hammered a fully charged Peck down at the other wing. At the same time, Tranquill crashed into both Pokémon and all three tumbled over, into one pile.

"What is happening out there?" Ben asked, biting his lip. His question was answered by all three Pokémon trying to get up. Corona staggered to her legs and stood upright. Ruffer tried to get up, but had to struggle harder. Tranquill tried as well, but fell down and lay flat on the platform.

"Tranquill is unable to battle and that means we have a winner!" Nurse Joy declared as the crowd went wild. "The winners are Casey and Tyson from Nesot Village!"

"We did it" Tyson grinned jubilantly.

"So we did" Casey said with a smile.

* * *

_Sunday the 18th of Silversun_

_11:50, Pirepsah City Gym_

Blake turned away from the finished match and looked at his partner, Sean. They hadn't know each other very long – in fact, they had only met the day before. Both of them had wanted to register, but was turned down as they had been alone at that time. Sean was turned away just before Blake had made his application. When he had been turned down, he had at first been crestfallen, until it dawned on him that the other trainer must have been alone as well. Five minutes and an awkward sales pitch later, they had registered as a team.

Now his partner was sitting on a bench in the small locker room that served as their break room, brooding. That seemed to be all he did. Blake had tried to lift his spirits several times the day before, but was treated to a cold stare each time. It had even gone so far, that Blake had started to regret his decision of teaming up with the guy.

All of his concerns had been put at ease when he had challenged him in the evening, though. Blake had used the same Sandile as he had used in the tournament's first match, and even though Sean had used a Pokémon with a type disadvantage, he had still managed to pull off an easy victory.

"They did pretty well, don't you think?" Blake asked his partner. They had both been watching the battle from the sidelines. That is, Blake had watched it, while Sean had merely glanced out at it from time to time.

"I guess they qualify" Sean replied, not looking up.

"You guess?" Blake asked, placing his hands on his hips and cocked his head a little.

Sean finally looked at him, though with the look in his eyes, Blake quietly wished he hadn't. "They weren't that good" Sean said. "But I will admit, they are better than they appeared back then."

"Huh?" Blake asked.

"Perhaps he isn't as clueless as he seems" Sean said and looked away again, to return to his brooding, leaving Blake with more questions than answers.

"You've met them before?" Blake asked, but interrupted Sean before he could answer. "Never mind, save that for later. It's our turn to battle now."

* * *

_Sunday the 18th of Silversun_

_12:07, Pirepsah City Gym_

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the quarter-finals" Nurse Joy said as the crowd roared at Alex and Mia's victory. Alex looked rather pleased, smiling and waving at the audience, but Mia was pouting again. Once more, Alex had taken the entire spotlight for himself, leaving her out of the action. "We'll now break for 30 minutes before we proceed with the semi-finals."

"You could at least have let me do something this time" Mia pouted as they walked towards their own break room.

"I am sorry, Mia" Alex said, though Mia didn't think he was being entirely honest about it. "I promise you, you will get a chance next time."

"Yeah, right!" Mia spat out, though she desperately hoped it was true. She just wanted to prove to her cousin that she was strong enough. On their way to their locker room they met Casey and Tyson and exchanged a short greeting.

"Nice battle, you two" Casey said.

"And yours as well" Mia replied, pre-empting her cousin. "Best of luck in the semi-finals" she added.

"Th… Thanks" Tyson muttered and hurried on, earning weird stares from the rest of the group. Casey excused himself and hurried after his friend.

"What a weird pair" Mia said, hands resting on her hips. Alex smiled, as if remembering then something funny. "What's with you?" she frowned.

"Nothing" Alex said with a smile. "Come, let's go get lunch."

"Hmm" Mia grunted. "You're still weird, all three of you."

* * *

**I hope that was an interesting chapter. I certainly found it interesting to have Casey and Tyson battle a pair of trainers who's received some special training ('what training?' you ask? Well, that's for me to know and you to figure out from this chapter). What else... We have Alex and Mia who won their second battle as well, still without Mia getting to do anything, which I'm finding both funny and a great idea on my part, as it makes for some concern later.**

**If you liked the chapter, then leave a review or find the forum which I made for the story. An easy way is to go through my profile, scroll to where it reads 'Forums' and click the link.**

**Finally, there may or may not be a chapter up Thursday or Friday. If there isn't then I haven't had time to finish 14 before I'm going on hiatus for a month. The reason for this is, that I have three weeks of vacation (from July 1st to July 21st) and I wont have time to write in this period. Further more, once I get back from vacation, I'm going to give myself a chance to rebuild my buffer (as I just emptied it with this chapter), before posting anything. So if nothing is posted before the weekend, I'm taking this opportunity to bid you all a good summer and see you all August 5th.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

?; ?; Nickname: ?; Type: ?; Ability: ?; Current Moves: ?


	14. A Fearsome Duo

**It's Monday the 5th of August and you know what that means... *drum-roll* That's right. I'm back! *drum-roll climaxes and stops***

**I've had a great vacation and I hope you, my readers, have enjoyed/are enjoying/will enjoy a great vacation as well. As I said last chapter, I wanted to get a chance to build up my buffer a little... Which amounts to me having to write most of next chapter before next Monday. It can be so hard to get back in the game after a vacation...**

**I did, however, manage to make a few minor changes to existing chapters. _I'm now showing what characters are thinking like this_ rather than "yadda yadda yadda" he thought. I've also updated Casey's and Tyson's descriptions in chapter 1 a little. It may have been just shy of 4 months since the story went live and since the first comments on their appearance was made, but don't you dare say I don't get around to fixing it. Better late than never, I say (though 4 months may have been stretching it a little...). I've also updated Ruffer's ability so he now only has Hyper Cutter, rather than Hyper Cutter and Overgrowth (which was a copy/paste error in the first place anyway).**

**Without further ado, let's move on to the chapter. You probably all remember that we're in the middle of a tournament and that I left you hanging just before a big battle - Casey and Tyson versus Blake and Sean.**

**Credit goes to Pikachu0311 for the OC of Blake Hideki, who has his last planned appearance this chapter.**

**Currently Submitted OC's: 4. Currently Used OC's : 1**

* * *

**Chapter 14 – A Fearsome Duo**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_12:45, Pirepsah City Gym_

The crowd was silent. So silent, that the soft buzzing of the wall-mounted screen easily reached to the back of the room. The cause of the silence was to be found at the center of the room, down on the water-stage. At first glance there was nothing about it which would warrant a silence like this. It was just four boys, divided into two pairs which stood on either side of the field. But a closer look would make it clear as day – the tension emanated from these four boys. Two of them, a young brown-haired kid with blue eyes wearing an open green jacket on top of a blue shirt and brown jeans, as well as the youngster beside him with fiery-red hair, brown eyes and a dark pair of pants topped with a red jacket, stared intently at one of the boys on the other side. This boy looked a lot like the others, with regular features and brown hair. The difference was the icy cold look in his blue eyes.

"Sean" Tyson, the youngster in a red jacket, growled softly, so only his friend and partner, Casey, could hear.

"We knew it was coming" Casey replied just as softly, though without growling. "He was on the same leg as us. We would have to fight him at some point."

"But why is he here?" Tyson asked his partner, keeping his voice down. The two boys had met Sean for the first time just short of two weeks prior to this encounter. Their first meeting had been anything but smooth, as Tyson felt he had been gravely insulted. Casey had since explained to him that he had had it coming, but Tyson still bore a grudge.

"He is a trainer, you know" Casey said again, trying to mollify his friend. "He might be here for a gym badge." Tyson was about to say something but Casey cut him off. "Remember, he beat Bruce without effort, using only a single Pokémon, so be on your guard."

"It has been decided that the party of Sean and Blake will choose their Pokémon first" Nurse Joy said, breaking the silence that hung over the field.

Sean grabbed a Poké Ball and was about to release it, when Blake interrupted. The pair seemed to argue for a short while, before Sean seemingly gave up and chose another Poké Ball.

"Prove your worth, Houndour" Sean said and released his Pokémon. The energy took shape and solidified, turning into a small, four-legged Pokémon. The fur of the Pokémon was black. Something that resembled a rib-cage stretched along its back and down its sides. White rings of the same material looped around each ankle.

"That's one evil-looking Pokémon" Tyson shuddered as he found his Pokédex.

"Houndour, the Dark Pokémon" the male voice said aloud. "Houndour travel in packs and communicate though barks in order to surround their prey. This Pokémon's remarkable teamwork is simply unparalleled."

"Sandile, you're up" Blake called as he let out his small Desert Croc Pokémon once more.

"If we're going to beat them, we'll have to hit them with everything we've got" Casey said as Nurse Joy gestured for them to choose their Pokémon.

"So, what does that mean?" Tyson asked. "I'll choose Corona. Clamper would be a sitting duck out there, and the other won't do us much good either."

"Then I guess I'll have to go with Ruffer once more" Casey said. "What do you say, pal?" he asked the Pokémon still in his Poké Ball.

"Corona, let's do this!" Tyson called and sent out his Torchic. The small red chick Pokémon gave a delightful chirp and appeared healed from the last battle.

"Ruffer, let's go once more!" Casey called and sent out his red lobster-like Pokémon. To Tyson, he said: "Make sure that Corona takes it easy. She took quite a beating in that last match."

"Yeah, I know" Tyson replied, his voice full of concern for his brave little red bird.

"Trainers, begin the match!" Nurse Joy said and the clock started counting down.

"Let's see what you're made of" Blake said with a smile. "Sandile, let's start out with a Mud-Slap attack against Torchic!" Sandile opened its mouth and shot out a few balls of mud, which flew through the air towards Corona.

"Ruffer, intercept that attack with Bubble!" Casey called and his Pokémon listened. It opened its mouth and fired a stream of light-blue bubbles towards the incoming mud balls. The two attacks connected and cancelled each other out.

"Houndour, blow a Smog over to them!" Sean commanded. His dog-like Pokémon breathed in, then exhaled a black cloud of poisonous vapors towards Ruffer and Corona.

"Let's counter that, Corona" Tyson called. "Use Ember to burn away the vapors!" Corona did as she was told and spewed out a small, red cloud of embers. The ember cloud connected with the poisonous one, and the two burst into flames. Seconds later the fire died out and the few remaining traces evaporated into thin air.

"Take that!" Tyson said triumphantly.

"So predictable" Sean replied coolly.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Tyson yelled, his temper flaring.

"I said I can read you like a book" Sean replied mockingly, knowing he had Tyson on the hook. "But then, it seems to be an easy read."

"Why you little…" Tyson started. Casey tried to calm him down but he didn't pay any attention. "I've had it with you! Corona, use Flame Burst at Houndour!" Corona jumped and shot a ball of fire towards the black dog-like Pokémon. Sean said nothing, and Houndour stood still, ready to take the attack.

"Oh no" Casey said, as he too late realized what would happen. The events that transpired only a second later proved him right. The blast of fire impacted with Houndour, but nothing seemed to happen. Sean smirked and Casey fears were proven true.

"I don't understand" Tyson said mystified. "What happened to my attack?"

"It was absorbed" Casey said slowly. "Houndour must have the ability Flash Fire."

"Flash Fire?" Tyson asked. "What's that?"

"It's a special ability, which absorbs any incoming Fire-type attack, completely nullifying the damage" Casey explained.

"That's not all it does" Sean continued as Casey stopped. "It also powers up my Fire-type moves." The youth flashed a smile that sent shivers down Casey's back. "Let me demonstrate. Houndour, hit that bird with a real Fire-type attack. Ember!"

"Dour!" the hound replied and quickly leapt from platform to platform, making its way across the water to Torchic. It was a single platform away after only a few seconds, and the Dark Pokémon sprang up and barked, sending a cloud of small flames down towards Corona.

"Ruffer, use Bubble to protect Corona!" Casey called. The Corphish breathed out a stream of bubbles that flew towards the ember cloud.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you do that" Blake called. Casey cast a quick glance in Blake's direction and gasped as he saw Sandile steering towards him and Ruffer. "Sandile, block the bubbles with a Sand Tomb." The small Desert Croc Pokémon opened its mouth and shot out a steady stream of sand while it ran and jumped it way across the platforms. The sand flew fast and formed a wall between the bubbles and the descending ember cloud. The bubbles impacted the sand wall to no effect.

"Corona, try to get away!" Tyson called, but was too late, as the sand started to swirl around her. Corona gave a small chirp, then shrieked as the cloud of embers descended upon her, leaving her burned. The sand let up and Tyson saw his partner lying hurt on the platform. "Corona, can you still fight?" he asked concerned. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, Corona slowly got to her feet.

"Sandile, use Bite on that lobster!" Blake called. Sandile jumped the last platform and fell on Corphish, biting down hard on its shell.

"Phish!" Corphish shouted and tried to whack at Sandile with its pincers. But the claws proved too big and its arms too short and Sandile simply held on tight.

"Corphish, try to get free of it!" Casey called, feeling that control of the situation was slipping away.

"Houndour, use another ember while the Water-type is occupied" Sean called.

"Hou!" the small hound replied and unleashed another searing cloud of embers towards Corona.

"Let's not make that mistake again, Corona" Tyson called encouragingly. "Stay low and jump over to Houndour!" Corona acknowledged his commands, and as the cloud was about to settle she ran straight past it, then jumped swiftly to the other platform, landing in front of Houndour.

"What?!" Sean exclaimed.

"Use Peck!" Tyson shouted. His Torchic gathered energy in its beak and brought it down with great power, causing the hound to howl in pain.

"Houndour, jump back" Sean said and Houndour retreated towards its trainer.

"Ruffer, dive into the water" Casey called urgently. Ruffer tried to shake the Sandile on its back off, before jumping into the water. Sandile let go and managed to stay on dry land, though it winced as droplets from the splash hit it. Before Sandile had a time to regroup, Ruffer shot out of the water. "Use Bubble!" Casey shouted. Ruffer let out a spray of light blue bubbles, aimed directly at Sandile. The Desert Croc Pokémon had no time to defend itself and took the full force of the blow.

"Tyson, we need to change our tactics" Casey said as the crowd cheered.

"I know, that Houndour is really strong" Tyson replied, as the Pokémon on the field all caught their breath. The two boys looked over the field, and much to their dismay, saw that both Ruffer and Corona were panting, while only Sandile showed any signs of weakness on the other side of the field. "And I can't use any of Corona's Fire-type attacks due to Houndour's ability."

"Then let's try to take on Sandile first" Casey said. "It just took a powerful blow from Ruffer."

"Then let's do it" Tyson said. "Corona, use Focus Energy!"

"Chi!" Corona replied and glowed a soft blue for a few seconds.

"Ruffer, let's get in close!" Casey called.

"Phish Corphish!" Ruffer replied and dived into the water, disappearing from sight.

"Corona, use Flame Burst on Sandile!" Tyson shouted.

"Tor Chic!" Corona replied as she drew in breath and released a powerful ball of fire, larger than usual, towards Sandile.

"Should I or do you want the honors?" Blake asked his partner with a smile.

"You focus on a counter-attack" Sean replied coolly. "Houndour and I will block this." Then, he turned to his Pokémon. "Houndour, jump in front of Sandile and act as a shield." Houndour leapt from its own platform over to its ally and positioned itself between Sandile and the burst of flame flying towards Sandile.

"Gotcha!" Casey shouted triumphantly.

"Huh?" Blake asked surprised.

"What?" Sean asked, just as surprised as his partner.

"Corphish!" Ruffer shouted as it jumped out of the water, right next to the Ground-type and the Dark/Fire-type Pokémon. The two Pokémon, their trainers and the audience gasped.

"ViceGrip!" Casey shouted. Ruffer angled downwards and grabbed hold of Houndour's leg. Ruffer landed on all legs and heaved, flinging Houndour away from Sandile. Houndour impacted another platform and nearly slid into the water.

"Corona, another Flame Burst!" Tyson called. Corona gave a determined chirp and fired another powerful ball of flame into the first, speeding it up and causing it to race towards Blake's Sandile.

"Oh no" Blake gasped, for the first time losing his cool. "Sandile, use Sandstorm, quick!" Sandile opened its mouth, but before it could launch its attack, the large Flame Burst blazed past Ruffer and smashed into Sandile. Sandile cried out as the flame impacted and sent it flying, as small embers of the fire spread over that side of the field, hitting both Ruffer and Houndour.

"Ruffer, use Bubble to finish up that Sandile!"

"Phi!" Ruffer replied and unleashed a stream of blue bubbles towards the dark-striped brown Desert Croc Pokémon. Sandile shrieked as the bubbles impacted with it, before sinking to the ground.

"Sandile is unable to battle" Nurse Joy declared.

"Oh well, you did a good job" Blake said to Sandile. "Think you can handle them on your own?" he asked Sean.

"I'll pretty much have to now, won't I?" Sean replied calmly. "Houndour, use Leer at Corphish!" Houndour sprang to its feet and glared angrily at Casey's Corphish, which returned the stare. None of the two Pokémon seemed to move an inch.

"We got them on the ropes now" Tyson said triumphantly, though Casey didn't share his optimism. "Let Ruffer use a Water-type attack and we'll have won this."

_I'm not sure it'll be that easy_ Casey thought, but said nothing to his friend. Instead, he gave the command to his Pokémon. "Ruffer, use Bubble!"

"You two are so predictable" Sean said as Ruffer launched the bubbles towards Houndour. Tyson grumbled something inaudibly, but Casey merely stared at Sean. "So far your Corphish has been doing most of the fighting. No doubt due to the incompetence of your partner there." Tyson shook but Casey placed a hand on his arm, holding him back. "If my analysis is correct, you are the strategic one on your team." Casey inclined his head, telling Sean that he was correct. "Then your strategy must be poor, if all you can do is use 'Bubble' over and over again." Sean paused as Houndour jumped to another platform to dodge the bubbles. "I'll admit, you've made a few clever decisions so far, but I've seen through your strategy. You can't win."

"We'll see about that" Casey replied, struggling to keep his cool. "Ruffer, hit that Houndour with a Bubble attack!"

"Cor!" Casey's Corphish shouted and let out a stream of blue bubbles.

"Smog" Sean replied. Houndour opened its mouth and exhaled a toxic, purple-looking cloud. The cloud encompassed the bubbles, which disappeared, before continuing over to Ruffer.

"Ruffer, try not to breathe in!" Casey called but to no avail. Ruffer was panting from the battle and took a deep breath of the poisonous cloud, causing it to cough uncontrollably.

"Houndour, use Ember" Sean said coolly and in a flash, Houndour had lit the purple cloud on fire.

"Phiiiiissshhh" Ruffer cried from within the sea of flames.

"Finally, end it with Bite" Sean commanded. Houndour leapt into the flames and sunk its teeth into Corphish. Corphish gave another cry, before Houndour tossed it out of the flames, over to Casey. Ruffer did not get back up.

"Corphish is unable to battle" Nurse Joy said. "This means both teams are down to 1 Pokémon each, as we enter the final minute of this battle."

"If I can take out a Water-type, then your little chicken shouldn't be much of a challenge" Sean said mockingly to Tyson.

"I'll show you!" Tyson shouted back, then he knelt and spoke to Corona. "I know this is a really tough battle, and I know you're tired." Corona looked up at Tyson, cocking its head a little and gave a quizzical chirp. "But I need you to last one more minute, okay Corona? We have to win this, not just for ourselves, but for Casey and Ruffer too, you know?" Corona looked up at him, her beak slightly parted. "I believe in you, so give it your best shot, okay?"

"Tor?" Corona chirped, then replied more happily, "Torch Torchic!"

"Alright, then let's go!" Tyson said and Corona chimed in.

"If you two are quite done with the pep-talk, I'll appreciate getting back to my victory" Sean mocked from the other side.

"Things look like they are heating up now with only 30 seconds left on the clock" Nurse Joy commented.

"Houndour, use Bite!" Sean ordered.

"Corona, use Peck!" Tyson countered.

The two Pokémon rushed towards each other, jumping from platform to platform. When they were only one platform apart, they both lunged. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Casey and Tyson watched their last hope for advancing in the tournament play out. Houndour bent its back legs, before cannoning into the air, in a trajectory designed to bring it down on Torchic. They saw the Dark Pokémon's mouth open, all of its sharp teeth clearly visible. Corona stopped dead in her tracks, as if gauging her opponent. Slowly her beak started to glow white and become slightly longer. Then she jumped. Houndour craned its neck at Torchic, and snapped its jaws shut, missing corona by a fraction of an inch. She wasn't slow to return the favor and drew her head back. Only seconds remained on the clock. Corona's head flew forward and the glowing beak smashed into Houndour's side.

"Time's up!" Nurse Joy called as Houndour sailed through the air and landed on a platform close to Sean. Corona landed to and looked worse for wear. Everyone held their breath as Nurse Joy seemed to listen to instructions in her headset. "Since the final attack landed just as time ran out, Casey and Tyson wins if Houndour is unable to continue. If the last attack didn't knock out Houndour, then we will make a ruling based on points and performance."

Everyone's attention turned to Houndour. The small black Pokémon struggled to get to its feet. It got one leg upright. Then another. Then the third. Finally, it stood on all four legs, staring dead ahead at a panting Torchic. The crowd sucked in a deep breath. Houndour took one shaking step, then collapsed.

"Houndour is unable to battle" Nurse Joy said and the crowd erupted in cheer. "The winners of this match who advances to the final, are Tyson and Casey of Nesot Village!"

The two boys grinned at each other. "We did it" Tyson shouted and gave a victory cry, waving to the audience. Casey smiled and made a mental note of congratulating Tyson and Corona when they were both more relaxed. Tyson picked up Corona and carried the small Torchic on his head, as he continued to thank the audience. Casey recalled Ruffer and waved at the audience too.

In their thrill of victory, neither of the boys noticed Sean recalling his Houndour and leaving the arena.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_13:02, Pirepsah City Gym_

"And the winner of the second semi-final match is our Gym Leader Duo, Alex and Mia" Nurse Joy said as the crowd erupted with cheer. The pair of Water-type Gym Leaders had just battled a pair of Fighting-types and Alex had ended the battle in less than a minute, after having put Mia on the sidelines once more. "The final battle between the teams of Casey and Tyson versus Alex and Mia, will be held later this afternoon, once all Pokémon has had a chance to recover."

"This is getting really annoying, you know" Mia sulked at her cousin as they left the arena. "What's the point of us teaming up in a Tag-Team Tournament, if you're not going to let me do any battling? There's no 'I' in 'team', you know!"

"I hear you, I hear you" Alex said defensively, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Then why haven't you let me do anything yet?"

"Because I need you at full strength for the final" Alex replied. Mia was about to protest, when she realized why.

"You really think they are that good?" she asked.

"I do" Alex replied. "And since they made it all the way here, I intend to keep my promise."

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:15, Pirepsah City Gym_

The crowd was silent as the time came for the final match of the Pirepsah City Tag-Team Tournament. On both sides, the contestants had gotten ready.

"This will be the final match" Nurse Joy declared. "It will follow the same rules as before. Are everyone ready?"

"Actually, Nurse Joy" Alex interrupted with a smile. "I'd like to request a rule change."

* * *

**Wait, a rule change? What kind of change Alex? Don't leave us hanging. The savvy reader has probably guessed what this change involves, but I ask that you wait with posting your guesses here and instead take it to the forums (or at least wait until next chapter and see if you were right).**

**For those of you about to be driven nuts by the unknown member of Tyson's team, don't fret. The newest member will be making its début next chapter.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

?; ?; Nickname: ?; Type: ?; Ability: ?; Current Moves: ?


	15. A Tag Team Gym Battle

**Greetings everyone.**

**I hope you've had a great week. Mine has been a little busy, but that's okay once in a while. But, I wasn't so busy as to not have time to whip up this for you: The conclusion to the Pirepsah City Tag Team Tournament. Furthermore, I'm proud to present Tyson's newest Pokémon (the one he caught by accident in chapter 9, was revealed caught in chapter 10 and finally has its début now in chapter 15). Looking back, it's long overdue, and yet he's only had it for about 24 hours... Gotta love fantasy-time. I remember some of you took a guess, but no one got it right.**

**By the way, I'm still accepting OC's, and I'm not planning on changing that any time soon.**

******Currently Submitted OC's: 4. Currently Used OC's : 1**

**So let's get to the chapter, shall we?**

* * *

**Chapter 15 – A Tag Team Gym Battle**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:15, Pirepsah City Gym_

The crowd was silent as the time came for the final match of the Pirepsah City Tag-Team Tournament. On both sides, the contestants had gotten ready.

"This will be the final match" Nurse Joy declared. "It will follow the same rules as before. Are everyone ready?"

"Actually, Nurse Joy" Alex interrupted with a smile. "I'd like to request a rule change."

"A rule change?" Nurse Joy asked confused.

"Yes" Alex replied cryptically, as if that explained it all. "These two boys before us came to the Gym this morning, requesting a Gym Battle. I had to turn them down, since we were holding this tournament today. But when I learned that they too would participate in the tournament, I offered to have our Gym Battle with them, if we were to meet." Alex paused and breathed in. "Since we have now met, in the finals even, I would like to offer them a combined shot at winning not only the tournament but also their Gym Badge." The crowd went wild at the idea and shouts of encouragement filled the room. Casey and Tyson smiled and high-fived. It looked as if Alex kept his promise.

"I don't see any reason to disallow that" Nurse Joy said thoughtfully. "But what would the new rules be?"

"Fairly standard Gym Battle rules" Alex said. "All 4 trainers will be using 2 Pokémon each. If they manage to defeat both of us, like they would in a normal tag-battle, they win. Only Casey and Tyson are allowed substitutions."

"And you boys are okay with these terms?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes, Ma'am" Tyson replied, causing Nurse Joy to grimace at the title.

"Well, then" she said, recovering her composure. "Then this Tag Team Tournament Final and Gym Battle will get under way. The rules will be as just described by Alex. There will be no time limit. Trainers, begin the battle!"

"Alright. Let's get started, Mia" Alex said and found his Poké Ball. "I choose you, Wooper!" Alex called and threw his Poké Ball into the stage. The small sphere opened and released the small blue, bipedal Pokémon.

"Per" Wooper said as it landed on one of the platforms.

"Horsea, it's time" Mia called as she too threw her Poké Ball into the arena. It opened and a small blue seahorse with fins on its back emerged.

"Let's do this, Tyson" Casey said to Tyson.

"Right with you, pal" Tyson replied and flung a Poké Ball out to the field. The sphere opened and out came a short, white eel-like Pokémon. Its eyes were dark ovals and its mouth looked like a red, four-pointed star. Along its side ran a thin, yellow stripe. "It's time for your debut, Tynamo!"

"Twurt, let's do this!" Casey called and sent out his own Pokémon and trusted partner. The small green turtle appeared on the field, ready to battle.

"Let's start this. Horsea, use Water Gun!" Mia shouted eagerly, pointing at Tynamo. The small seahorse spat out a swift stream of water, heading straight for Tyson's Tynamo.

"Tynamo, counter with Charge Beam!" Tyson called. But Tynamo merely sat there, doing nothing. "Tynamo, Charge Beam, hurry!" Tyson called again, but Tynamo merely sat still. Before Tyson could try again, the Water Gun impacted and Tynamo was knocked backwards.

"Twurt, let's counter-attack" Casey said to his Pokémon, who nodded in response. "Let's hit them both with a Razor Leaf."

"Twig" Twurt replied and whipped its head. A storm of leafs flew from the small sapling on its head, spreading out as it flew towards Horsea and Wooper.

"Horsea, dive under it!" Mia shouted and Horsea submerged itself in the water.

"Wooper, block it with Mud Shot" Alex said. His Wooper swiftly shot out a series of small mud balls; all heading towards the incoming leafs. The small balls of mud impacted the leafs heading towards Wooper and both attack fell harmlessly to the ground. The leaves heading for where Horsea had been just seconds before impacted the platform to no harm.

_We got to keep the pressure on them_ Tyson thought. "Tynamo, use Spark!" he shouted, but once again, the EleFish Pokémon just hovered slightly above ground, showing no signs of moving. "Come on, move!" Tyson called desperately.

"You shouldn't bring a Pokémon to a Gym Battle if you can't control it" Mia taunted. "Let's show him how it's done, Horsea. Use BubbleBeam!"

"Sea!" Horsea replied and sucked in breath, only to release a powerful stream of bubbles, so small and close that it could be mistaken for a beam.

"TYNAMO!" Tyson called, as the beam was about to hit his Pokémon.

"Ty" Tynamo said slowly, as if waking from a daze. A soft crackle surrounded its small body. Then, Tynamo shot out a powerful beam of electricity at the incoming BubbleBeam. The two attacks collided with a bang and smoke arose from the point the two had hit each other. The attacks let up and the smoke thinned out, revealing both Pokémon still standing.

"Awesome, Tynamo!" Tyson said cheerfully, but the Pokémon seemed unaffected by his cheers.

"Twurt, use Tackle on Horsea!" Casey shouted.

"Tur!" Twurt replied and started jumping from platform to platform to get closer to Horsea. It swiftly crossed the platforms and launched towards the small Water-type Pokémon. But once more Mia called for it to dodge and it did by diving down under water. Twurt's attack missed and he landed, barely, on another platform.

"Horsea, Water Gun" Mia called and Horsea shot out of the water and aimed its snout at Twurt. It immediately fired a beam of condensed water at Twurt.

A flash of inspiration ran through Casey's mind, as he gave his next command. "Twurt, cover yourself with your shell!" His partner understood immediately and curled up, leaving only the shell as a viable target. The spray hit but didn't do a lot of damage and Twurt hardly seemed affected.

"Payback time" Casey called. "Use Absorb while it can't dodge!" Twurt reacted instantly and sprang to its feet. Its sapling glowed shortly before it fired a whip of green energy towards the suspended Horsea, which was powerless to avoid it. The whip made contact and enveloped Horsea in a soft, green light, which visibly weakened it. At the same time, Twurt looked a little better.

"Wooper, use Slam on that Turtwig!" Alex commanded.

"Wooper Woo" his Wooper replied and launched itself into the air, somersaulted and came down, tail-first, at Turtwig, a white light building around its tail.

"Tynamo, we need to help Twurt" Tyson said. "Use Charge Beam on Wooper before that attack connects!" Tyson looked expectantly at his Pokémon, but Tynamo seemed unaware. "Come on, please!" Tyson pleaded, but to no effect. Tynamo just sat still, as Wooper brought its tail down on Twurt, who seemed to wince as if in pain.

_Even though Twurt's defence just rose due to the Water Gun, Wooper's Slam must be really powerful to make him flinch like that_ Casey thought. "While they are both together, hit them with a Razor Leaf!" Casey shouted. Twurt jumped back a step and fired a stream of leaves at the two Water-type Pokémon, who tried to dodge it. Neither of them managed to do so completely unscathed, however, and their dodges were thrown a bit of. Wooper tumbled on a platform and skidded to a stop. Horsea fell into the water at an odd angle and swam around to regain its balance.

"Twurt, use Absorb on Wooper!" Casey shouted, in the hopes of catching it off-balance. Twurt's sapling glowed again and flung a whip of green energy at Wooper, which had no time to dodge or counter. Wooper cried as the energy left its body, only to replenish Twurt's.

"Way to go, Casey!" Tyson cheered, then looked at Tynamo. "We need to help too. Use Thunder Wave on Wooper!"

"Namy" Tynamo replied and did nothing.

"Why won't you help us?" Tyson asked, feeling ashamed that Casey was doing all the work. But Tynamo didn't reply, it just hovered in silence. Tyson sighed, then held out his Poké Ball. "Tynamo, return" he said, looking downcast. Casey threw him a concerned look, but said nothing, as Mia launched her next attack which he ordered Twurt to dodge. _What can I do?_ he thought as Twurt took Horsea's Water Gun and was shot backwards. _Corona can't fight. She's exhausted from the days battles and besides that, she's a Fire-type. Those two would end her in seconds._ His hand went to the next Poké Ball. _That leaves me with one choice_. "Go, Clamper!" he called as he sent out his Karrablast to the field. Clamper appeared on the field, full of energy.

"Blast Karra Kablast" it said energetically, as it took in its surroundings – a Gym Battle which had paused momentarily, to allow Tyson to switch his Pokémon.

"Listen, Clamper" Tyson started. "This is a very important battle okay? So we have got to do our very best to help Twurt."

Clamper looked at him confused for a second, as if wanting to say that it always did its best. But then it noticed something in Tyson's eyes and realization dawned on him. "Karra" Clamper said and nodded, then turned around to face the battlefield.

"Are you ready to continue?" Alex called politely.

"Yes, we're ready now, aren't we Clamper?"

"Blast!" Clamper said.

"Then let's continue" Alex said with a smile. "Wooper, it's time for Mud Bomb. Aim it at that Karrablast." Wooper acknowledged his command and a large brownish energy ball formed above its head. As Wooper strained the ball grew in size and quickly became larger than Wooper. With a cry, Wooper bend forward, releasing its hold on the energy ball and flung it at Clamper.

"Clamper, dodge it!" Tyson called and his Karrablast jumped aside, just in the nick of time. The ball impacted the platform Karrablast had been standing on, and sent a gust of air in all directions, causing Tyson and Casey to shield their eyes from the wind. Clamper managed to hang on to its platform and was ready immediately.

"Clamper, let's close in and use Fury Cutter!" Tyson called. Clamper raised a small, stubby arm which started to glow green right away. It then started to make its way across the platforms on its small legs.

"Wooper, interrupt with Slam!" Alex said and once more Wooper jumped, somersaulted and brought down its tail towards Clamper.

"Twurt, use Tackle!" Casey shouted and his Turtwig obeyed at once, launching itself up into Wooper. The two impacted and was sent flying backwards. In the aftermath of the collision, Wooper had no chance of seeing the small Bug-Type who had jumped up and which now raised its small arm, still glowing green. It brought it down hard, and though the attack didn't deal much damage, Wooper's impact with the ground did.

"You'll pay for that!" Mia shouted. "Horsea, use Water Gun on that insect!" Horsea did as its master bid it and fired a steady stream of water at Clamper.

"Look out" Tyson called but too late, as the attack struck Clamper straight on.

"Wooper, it's Mud Bomb time again" Alex said. Wooper staggered to its feet, breathing heavily, then strained even more as it started to focus its energy in a brown ball of energy above its head.

"Twurt, interrupt it with Razor Leaf!" Casey called and his green turtle whipped its head, flinging a bunch of leaves towards Wooper. _If this hits, Wooper might be done for._

"Horsea, intercept with BubbleBeam" Mia called, much to Casey's chagrin. The small Dragon Pokémon launched a dense beam of small bubbles at the incoming leaves. The two attacks hit midway across the stage. "Don't give up, Horsea" Mia called as Horsea struggled to hold back the leaves.

"You can do this, Twurt" Casey retorted as his partner sent more leaves towards the pressing bubbles.

In all this, no one noticed Clamper, who had made its way close to Wooper. Not until Tyson gave his next command: "Clamper, Fury Cutter!" Clamper jumped at Wooper with a raised arm, ready to sink it into Wooper. Mia gasped with surprise; Casey with delight. Before anyone could do anything, Clamper was seconds from Wooper.

"Fire!" Alex shouted, for the first time concerned about the outcome of the fight.

"Abort!" Tyson shouted, but it was too late. Before Clamper could stop its attack, Wooper brought down the great energy ball. It found its mark immediately and exploded, sending Clamper and Wooper flying to their trainers, smashing into the wall. Twurt and Horsea aborted their attacks to look at the outcome, but smoke from the explosion covered the field. As it slowly petered out, the result became clear. Clamper was able to stagger to its legs and fight on; Wooper wasn't.

"Wooper is unable to battle, which brings the challengers ahead 1-0" Nurse Joy declared. The crowd cheered, as they had done all along, but no one on the battlefield paid them any attention.

"You must be pretty good trainers, to stand up to us like that" Alex said with a smile as he returned Wooper. "So what is up with your Tynamo?" He sounded genuinely concerned, so Tyson decided to answer him.

"I don't know" he said truthfully. "I've only just caught it and this was to be our first battle together. But it didn't go as well as I expected."

"I see" Alex replied thoughtfully. "Do you want to replace it?"

"Huh?" Tyson replied, trying to understand the question.

"Simple, do you want to use another Pokémon instead of Tynamo?" Alex replied. "You cannot very well battle with a Pokémon whom you do not understand."

"But that's against the rules" Mia said angrily, before Tyson could reply. "You can't let him do that."

"It is okay" Tyson replied, earning curious looks from all contestants. "I made my decision. I chose Tynamo and I'm sticking with him and Clamper."

Alex smiled. "Very well. I had a feeling this would be your answer, but I had to ask."

"Then why _did_ you ask?" Mia asked furiously.

"You will know, once you are a Gym Leader" Alex replied in the way one would when talking to a child.

"Which will be never at the rate you're having me battle" Mia grumbled but stopped arguing.

"Now then, my next choice is this – Chinchou!" Alex whipped his Poké Ball into the air and it opened to release a small, round, blue fish-like Pokémon. A single tiny white fin was attached to each side of its body. Its yellow eyes were marked with plus-like pupils. From its back sprung two antennae, which curved over its body to hang inches from its face.

"What is that thing?" Casey asked as he found his Pokédex and scanned it.

"Chinchou, the Angler Pokémon" the Pokédex read out. "Chinchou have the ability to conduct electrical currents from their two tentacles which flow positive from one end and negative to the other. Chinchou can also communicate underwater by flashing its tentacles. It lives in depths beyond sunlight's reach."

"I see, so it's a dual Water/Electric-type" Casey muttered.

"Let's move on" Mia said, then called out to her Pokémon. "Horsea, use Water Gun on that Grass-type." Horsea breathed in, then shot a burst of water at Twurt.

"Twurt, dodge it by jumping over it!" Casey shouted and his partner obeyed, getting perfectly clear of the incoming water. "Now use our ace. Seed Bomb!" The small sapling on top of Twurt's head started to glow and Twurt shot a brown projectile at Horsea.

"Quick, use SmokeScreen!" Mia cried out and Horsea started to send out pitch-black smoke. But the effort came too late and the projectile smashed into Horsea, flinging it backwards into the pool, where it continued to blow out smoke.

"Chinchou, use ThunderBolt!" Alex called. Chinchou's antennae started to sparkle and a small current ran between them. It shot a forked lightning towards the still airborne Turtwig and hit it clean. Twurt cried as the electricity ran its course.

"BubbleBeam!" Mia called and Horsea surfaced, ready to shoot at Twurt.

"Now, Fury Cutter!" Tyson called and everyone's attention turned to Clamper who came bearing down on Horsea, its small arm glowing green. The attack hit before Mia could give the command to dodge. Horsea cried out as the blow struck, then fainted.

"Horsea is unable to battle as well" Nurse Joy said. "This brings the challengers ahead 2-0."

"You gave it your best, Horsea, return" Mia said and recalled her fainted Pokémon. "But we'll avenge her, won't we?" she asked the next Poké Ball, already in her hand. "I choose you!" She threw her Poké Ball into the fray and out popped a small, bipedal, blue crocodile. All along its back were red spines, with the largest on its tail. Its chest was marked with a V-shaped, yellow mark, which stretched from arm to arm. A dark-blue pattern could be seen around its big eyes, which each had a red iris.

"A Totodile?" Tyson blurted out as he found his Pokédex.

"Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon" his Pokédex read out in its male voice. "Even though it is small, Totodile has a habit of using its highly developed jaws to chomp on anything in sight. Trainers should take great caution when handling this Pokémon."

"How did she get a Totodile?" Tyson asked.

"I guess she got it from Professor Willows" Casey replied, in an attempt to offer an explanation.

"_She_ is standing right here!" Mia called, throwing a tantrum. "That's it. I've had it with you two. I'll defeat you if it's the last thing I do. Totodile, use Aqua Jet!"

"Dile!" her Pokémon replied playfully and quickly surrounded itself with water, before shooting out towards Twurt. The attack came so fast, that neither Casey nor Turtwig had a chance of seeing it and Twurt flew back from the impact.

_That was fast_ Casey thought. _And it seemed to hurt too._ "Twurt, counter with Absorb."

"Don't give them the chance" Mia called as Twurt started to glow. "Use Ice Fang!"

"What?!" Casey blurted out, surprised by Mia's command. Before Twurt could finish its attack, Totodile had reached its target, icy teeth forming in its jaw. It pressed its icy teeth into Twurt, who cried out in pain. "Twurt!" Casey shouted, but it was too late. Totodile let go and Twurt collapsed, exhausted.

"Twurt is unable to battle" Nurse Joy said. "This means the score is now 2-1."

"You did really well, Twurt" Casey said. "Take a good long rest, okay?" Casey placed Twurt's Poké Ball on his belt and found his last Pokémon. "It's all up to you now, Ruffer." Casey released his Pokémon and the Corphish appeared on the field, but it was easy to see that the fights during the day had taken its toll. _I really need to catch some more Pokémon_ Casey thought.

"Chinchou, let's wrap that one up, shall we?" Alex teased. "Use Spark." Chinchou's antennae sparked again, but this time the sparks started to surround the entire Pokémon, before it shot through the water at high speed.

_One hit and we might be done for_ Casey thought. _But what do I do? Harden won't help and it will just tear through Bubble. Leer won't face it and ViceGrip is certain defeat. That means all I can do is dodge._ "Ruffer, I want you to…"

"Clamper, get in between and act like a shield!" Tyson shouted. His small Bug-type did as he asked and flung itself into harms' way, glowing a soft green all over. Chinchou impacted the small Bug-type, which gritted its teeth, determined not to cry out.

"Tyson…" Casey started.

"Save it, pal" Tyson said and smiled at him. "You would have done the same for me. Besides, Clamper and I want to make up for the help Tynamo couldn't give before." The smile was gone now. In its stead was a grimace of sadness and regret.

"Then let's do this" Casey replied. "Ruffer, I want one powerful Bubble at that Chinchou!"

"Corphish Phish!" Ruffer replied and shot out a powerful stream of large, blue bubbles, which flew straight and fast at Chinchou.

"Dodge it!" Alex shouted, raising his voice for the first time. But the order came too late and Chinchou was hit straight on and was pushed back.

"Follow up with Fury Cutter!" Tyson called and Clamper rushed towards the still groggy Chinchou. Its arm glowed green and as Clamper rushed closer, its entire body started to glow along with it. "I said Fury Cutter, not Endure" Tyson said.

"Tyson, I think that's Swarm – Clamper's ability" Casey said. Tyson was about to ask what he meant when Casey explained himself. "Swarm is an ability that increases the power of Bug-Type moves when the user is weak. Sort of like an adrenaline rush."

"Really? That's awesome." He turned back to Clamper. "Alright, hit it straight on!"

"Karrablast KAR!" Clamper shouted and bore all of its tiny body down on Chinchou. The Angler Pokémon cried out, before fainting from the powerful attack.

"Chinchou is unable to battle already?" a shocked Nurse Joy declared. "Then the challengers are ahead 3-1."

"That is a really impressive Karrablast you have" Alex said as he returned his last Pokémon.

"Thanks" Tyson replied, a foolish grin on his face.

"Totodile, use Water Gun on that bug!" Mia called. Her small, bipedal Pokémon answered her command by swiftly shooting a stream of water at Clamper. The attack came from behind and Clamper barely had time to turn around and see it, before the water hit him in his gut. The small insect was blow away by the force of the water and collapsed at the edge of the pool.

"Karrablast is unable to battle, making the score 3-2" Nurse Joy said.

"Karrablast, return" Tyson said and recalled his Pokémon. "You did a really great job out there. You can be proud of yourself." He then found Tynamo's Poké Ball and released the EleFish Pokémon. "Let's try to do a better job this time, shall we?"

As he expected, Tynamo completely ignored him.

"Ruffer, use ViceGrip" Casey called and Ruffer shot off on its small legs.

"Not on my watch" Mia countered. "Totodile, use Bite!" The two Water-types rushed towards each other and collided. Ruffer was quickest and clamped down on Totodile's tail. Totodile howled in pain, then took advantage of its extremely open mouth to bite hard on Ruffer's shell. Ruffer groaned under the stress, clearly weak from the battles it had already fought. The two Pokémon let go of each other.

"Once more, Ruffer" Casey shouted.

"You can win this, Totodile" Mia shouted and the two Pokémon engaged again. This time Totodile was the fastest and chomped down on Ruffer before it could launch its attack. Ruffer gave a cry and staggered, then fell.

"Corphish is unable to battle" Nurse Joy said. "This brings the match to an even 3-3."

"It's up to you now, Tyson" Casey said, giving him a reassuring smile. _Good luck._

"This battle is ours, Totodile" Mia said.

"Toto Dile" Totodile replied panting.

"Use Water Gun on that eel one more time!" Mia shouted. Totodile gasped for breath, then fired a stream of water at Tynamo.

"Tynamo, use Charge Beam!" Tyson shouted desperately. Much to his surprise, a soft yellow crackle appeared around Tynamo's body. "Alright!" Tyson cried out with a smile. But the lightning never left Tynamo's body. When the water was only a second from hitting Tynamo, it started to move towards the water. The small Pokémon smashed into the water. The small Electric-type struggled against the force of the water.

"Don't let up, Totodile!" Mia called. "Give it all you've got."

"You can do it, Tynamo" Tyson pleaded.

"Mo…" Tynamo grunted as it struggled against the oncoming torrent, then screamed, "TYNAMO!" The soft crackle around its body intensified suddenly, becoming almost as thick as Tynamo itself. With a sudden burst of speed, it pushed through the water, heading straight for Totodile.

"What?" Mia shouted in panic.

"Toto?" Totodile repeated and stopped the Water Gun. Tynamo felt the torrent cease and sped up even more, smashing into Totodile with unprecedented force and will. Totodile shrieked as the lightning coursed through its body. The force of the impact sent Totodile flying.

"Alright. That was awesome, Tynamo" Tyson rejoiced. "Now, hit it with another Spark!" Lightning crackled around Tynamo's body once more. Then, it all gathered in front of its mouth and was shot out towards Totodile, who took the impact straight on. "At least you're fighting now, even if you aren't listening" Tyson sighed.

"We can still go on, right Totodile?" Mia asked. But Totodile was lying on a platform and gave no indication of having heard her. "Totodile?" A single foot twitched.

"Totodile is unable to battle" Nurse Joy said. "This means that Casey and Tyson are the winners!" The crowd went wild and their roars and applause filled the Gym for at least a minute.

"You were great, Tynamo" Tyson said, but his Pokémon merely sat still on the field, ignoring him. "Guess we'll have to work on your hearing a little" Tyson sighed and recalled his Pokémon.

"You did really well, Tyson" Casey said. Tyson turned and saw a big smile on Casey's face. "Congratulations."

Tyson couldn't help but smile himself. "Thanks" he said with a grin. The two turned to the audience, to greet and thank them.

"You two did really well together" Alex said, as he approached them from next to the pool. Mia was following behind him, cradling Totodile in her arms.

"Thanks, Alex" the boys replied as they turned to face their just defeated opponents.

"You have most definitely deserved this" he said as he handed them two small metal pins. Each was formed like a flowing river. "This is the Current Badge" he said as they took one each. "A river flows with a current. It is always changing and yet it stays the same. Trainers too, change over time. That is the meaning of this Current Badge."

The boys looked at the blue, flowing symbol. Then, as if one, they clenched it and jumped up, raising the badge into the air. "We've got a Current Badge!" they shouted, causing Alex to smile and Mia to snicker.

"And before we forget" Nurse Joy said as she approached the group. In her hands was a platter with a pair of blue stones on them. "You boys are also the winners of the tournament. Therefore, we present you with these prices – a pair of Water Stones." The boys took the blue stone offered and looked them over more closely. The inside seemed to be liquid and the stone felt slightly damp.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy" Casey said as he bagged the two stones.

"You're welcome" Nurse Joy said with a smile and cocked her head. "Perhaps you would like to come to the Pokémon Center, all four of you?" she asked. "I'm sure your Pokémon could use the rest."

"That sounds great" Tyson said.

"Then let us…" Alex said but was interrupted as a loud rumble filled the hall.

"What was that?" Mia asked, just as another such rumble filled the hall, only louder this time.

"I do not know" Alex said. "Come." Alex ran towards the doors and Mia, Tyson and Casey followed, leaving Nurse Joy behind with the curious crowd which still hadn't moved. Alex came upon the doors and slammed them open, then rushed outside, the three teenagers in his heels. He ran around the Gym as another loud sound could be heard – this time it sounded like an explosion. The ground beneath them shook and on the horizon, smoke started to rise. For a brief moment, a green light flashed, then it was gone.

"What's going on?" Mia asked.

"I do not know" Alex replied. "But it's coming from the direction of the Diving Cliffs."

"Oh no" Mia gasped. "We need to get going, fast."

"I know, Mimi" Alex replied, using her nickname to try and calm her down. "Follow me to the jeep."

"Can we come too?" Casey asked.

"You will come regardless of what I say, will you not?" Alex asked back with a smile. The boys simply nodded. "Then follow me, all four of you."

* * *

**Boy, that was a lot of action, huh? I mean, both a tournament final AND a Gym Battle. Who saw that coming? I did, I had planned for the tournament to end up in a Tag Battle all along, as I was to lazy to have them fight them more than once. Don't worry, Tag Team Gym Battles won't become a thing, they are really tough to write so I hope you enjoyed it.**

**And Tyson's Pokémon turned out to be a Tynamo with either a hearing-problem or an attitude one. I'm not quite sure myself, all I know is that I wanted things to not quite go as planned. And I figured, having their secret weapon malfunction made things a little more hectic. If Tynamo had listened from the beginning, this Gym Battle would only have been about a third as long as it is.**

**Finally, I want to turn your attention to the cliffhanger. A mysterious explosion at the Diving Cliffs... Now, why does that name sound so familiar... It's almost like I've heard it before... All I'm saying is, look forward to next weeks chapter. It'll be a really good one. I think I'm about halfway through and I'm already at 3.500 words. So two big ones in a row, no wonder I can't seem to rebuild my buffer (Chapter 17 is going to feel like a bore though, compared to the 3 chapters before it).**

**Oh, one more thing before I forget, I need help with Tynamo's nickname. It can be something that applies to all three stages. For instance (and this really belongs on the forum instead) Twurt is based on the myth that Turtwig is based on - the world turtle. World. Turtle. Turtle, world. Twurt. On the other hand, Torchic is named Corona, simply because it relates to fire and it sounds feminine. Clamper and Ruffer are more plain examples, using information from the Pokédex entries. Any and all submissions are welcome. My decision will be finalized by about chapter 19, so you have a few weeks.**

**See you all next week.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

Tynamo; Male; Nickname: n/a; type: Electric; Ability: Levitate; Current Moves: Tackle - Thunder Wave - Spark - Charge Beam


	16. The Diving Cliffs Disaster

**Welcome everyone, to chapter 16.  
**

**Boy, have I been waiting for this one! This very chapter is probably the justification of this second arc's existence (okay, the Gym Battle lends some credit to it, but still...). This is the longest chapter of this story yet, being almost 7.000 words and I do feel that it couldn't have been any shorter. Now read the story and I'll meet you guys afterwards.**

**Before I forget, thanks goes out to Tyhe for beta-reading a tiny piece of this chapter to help me decide whether or not it should be in there.**

* * *

**Chapter 16 – The Diving Cliff Disaster!**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_10:55, The Diving Cliffs, north-west of Pirepsah City._

The sun was high in its orbit on this summer day. The sky was a clear blue, with barely a cloud to cover the sun. It was a warm day and it would only be warmer as the sun continued to bake the ground under its harsh gaze. In fact, it was almost the perfect conditions for what Alit had to do. The young man looked himself over in the mirror in the public rest house he was using to change his clothes. He was a young man still in his early twenties. He had a light tan on an already olive-colored skin. His hair was brown with streaks of red but was currently covered by a full-body diving suit. Same suit also hindered his view of his well-trained body. The suit was a boring dark-blue, a color much to dead and dull for Alit's preference, but a bright red suit would have made him stand out too much. For this mission he needed stealth. With a bit of luck, stealth would be all they needed to bring home their price.

A knock on the door tore him away from his musings. The knocker informed him that they had only 2 minutes before their operation was scheduled to start. Their leader, and most of the organization, made punctuality a virtue, but Alit was not comfortable with authorities like that so he made sure to deliberately never be on time for meetings. But this wasn't a meeting, it was a mission. It had been easy to sit back in headquarters and dismiss Vector's failed attempts at catching that Stantler. It was something else entirely to be in charge of a mission. If it went well, Vector would never hear the end of it. If it went south, he, Alit, would be the laughing stock of the entire group. Alit was determined to not be the laughing stock.

He grabbed his bag, opened the door and stepped outside. He was met with his team – four of which had suited up like him. The last one was dressed in civilian clothes. He threw his backpack to the civilian-dressed one. "Is your equipment set up?" Alit asked him.

"Yes, sir" the man replied. "I'm receiving vitals from all five suits just fine. We've also tested communications and they work great too."

"Good" Alit said, absently tugging at a sleeve. This suit really didn't suit him. Or maybe it was the thought of going underwater. "And you four are ready as well?" he asked the others.

"Yes, sir" they replied. "We are ready to begin on your command" one of them continued. "The local tournament is scheduled to start now."

"Then let's get started" Alit said and walked over to the cliffs. He took a last look around. The Diving Cliffs was a cliff located on the north-western tip of Gawaro. The area around it was green grass and trees, but that was not what made the place a tourist attraction. That was due to the great rock formations in the bay below and the fact that local folklore said that an ancient, strong Pokémon lived down there. Recently, there had been reported sightings of this Pokémon, but nothing could be confirmed. Alit took a deep breath and then picked up his oxygen tank and mask. He took a step forward once they were securely tightened. He was now standing at the very edge of the cliff. Another step would send him tumbling into the water some forty meters below.

He took a deep breath, made a sign to the four men following him and jumped. His men followed, all of them spread out so as not to hit one another when they breached the water. Alit hurled towards the water and had time to once more consider whether this was a good idea or not. After all, he wasn't much suited for an underwater mission. Then he breached the water and saw an entirely different world.

Below the water, the cliffs weren't barren rock as they were above. You only had to go a few meters below to find them covered in corals and seaweed. A few Krabby stopped to look as the company of five suited humans entered their domain; then continued with their own business.

"Ground Control, can you hear me?" Alit asked, verifying that the communication did, in fact, work.

"This is Ground Control, I hear you" the man, left behind above waters, said.

"Which way to the target?" Alit asked as his group came together around him.

"You should continue north-west of your current position" Ground Control replied. "Just swim in the opposite direction of the base cliff."

Alit confirmed the direction, then signaled to his companions to follow him. He turned and started to swim. He was an adept swimmer and neither the suit nor the tank bothered him in the water, though Alit had always been adept at physical challenges. It was what he had relied on all through his youth and late into his teens, until four years ago, when a strange man had approached him. He had made an intriguing offer and Alit had accepted out of mere curiosity. After that first venture, Alit had been offered a permanent place in the organization, which he had held ever since. Since then, he had learned to use his wit as well, but he still took great pride in his physical skills and appearance.

He looked back at his comrades, who were easily keeping up. He had hand-picked each of them specifically for this mission. It was unusual for the higher-ups to care about their underlings, but Alit did. He knew many of them came from as rough a background as himself and they were now given the chance at a better life. He knew all members of his squad by name, but procedure dictated that he used only code names on missions.

One of the men took a look at his small wrist-mounted computer – they all had one – and confirmed the directions sent from above. They were on the right course. Alit turned his attention ahead again and looked around him, as he slowly swam forward. All around were a variety of Pokémon, many of which he had never seen before or even knew existed. He passed by another pillar covered in corals and was surprised to see a pink, spiked Pokémon appeared from its midst. A small shell had rested on the Pokémon and now that it was falling, it opened and stuck out its tongue, trying to wiggle it as a fin. On any other day, Alit would have found that highly amusing, but he was too tense right now.

He looked at the computer on his wrist. It was already noon. _Where did the last hour go?_ Alit asked as he continued. He could see that they were still on track and pushed harder.

A short while later; they came upon a large field of huge seaweed. He stopped and his men formed a line next to him.

"Why are we stopping, sir?" one of them asked.

"Just enjoying the view" Alit said, not quite able to keep his apprehension out of his voice. "GC, are you sure we need to go through here?"

There was a few seconds before a slightly scrambled reply came through. "Positive" Ground control replied. "Your target is dead-ahead."

_I was afraid of that _Alit thought and sighed. He signed to his men to follow him and they did. Slowly, Alit started to swim through the seaweed. Above land it would have equaled a large meadow or a small forest. Down here, it was a jungle. The seaweed was waving and waxing so it was impossible to see more than a few meters ahead. Suddenly Alit's hand struck something and a small, seahorse-like Pokémon stuck to it. _That's one ugly Pokémon_ alit thought as he tried to get the seahorse off of him. But the little bugger didn't budge. It simply clung to Alit, wrapping its brown body, which actually looked like seaweed itself, around his hand. After a few seconds of additional struggling, Alit got rid of it and it quickly disappeared into the seaweed. _It may be ugly but it sure has great camouflage_ Alit remarked and made a mental note of looking up that Pokémon later. Not even a Water-type deserved to look as ugly as that.

Free of that distraction, Alit and his group continued. They encountered a school of Finnion, which one of his men joked about catching as an underwater flash-light. They finally left the seaweed, after what felt like an hour or more. Alit looked at the clock on the computer and wasn't surprised to find that he had indeed spent an hour in that seaweed. He cursed; time was starting to run short. He looked ahead and smiled as he saw they had reached their destination.

In front of them was an impressive ruin, which must have been that much more impressive in its prime. It towered high above them, at least a hundred meters, which gave Alit cause for concern. If the ruin was still a hundred meters tall, and the top was under the water, just how far down were they? He did not have many fears but being squashed by intense water pressure just jumped to the top of his list. As he continued to examine the once great building, he noticed that the tower was filled with strange designs, none of which he could see resembled water.

At the bottom could be seen an entrance and Alit signaled for his men to swim towards it. They approached it slowly, as if vary of something they didn't quite understand. The first man reached the entrance. But as he tried to swim through it, an invisible barrier stopped him. He pressed on, but he could proceed no further. Another man waved him away, then he tried too, without success.

"GC, there may be some truth to these rumors" Alit said over the communication line.

It took a few seconds, but the reply came through clearly. "That's good news."

"Yes, except that we can't get inside the ruin" Alit said. "There seems to be some kind of force field or barrier preventing us access."

"I see" came the reply from Ground Control after a few seconds. "Could you scan the entrance and transmit me the data?" Alit signaled for one of his men, who started messing with his computer. After a few seconds he swam over to the entrance and held the computer out. A minute later, the communication line crackled with a new reply from above. "I think I understand it now. It seems to be a barrier made by some sort of psychic energy."

"I don't care what it's made of, I want to know how I can get in" Alit said sharply. _Geez, that guy is getting more like Vector with each passing day._

"Alright, alright" came the reply. "I'm sending you the frequency, with which the barrier resonates. Have your suits send out the same frequency and you should be able to pass through unharmed."

_Should?_ Alit thought, but didn't voice his concerns. "Alright" he said instead and looked at his computer, which was now displaying the frequency they needed. They all activated it and Alit motioned for the closest member to try first. He slowly approached the doorway and put forth his arm. He encountered resistance and was about to shake his head, when suddenly the barrier gave way and he fell through. Encouraged by their comrade's success, the remaining squad members swam in, leaving Alit to go through as the last one._ This place must be home to a really powerful Pokémon_ he thought as he pressed against the barrier. After a second he fell through it and followed the hallway in.

After a short while, the hallway came to a round, featureless room. No, it wasn't just featureless, it was empty. Not even his squad was here. He tapped at the communication, but it didn't work. He saw the same was the case for his computer. Then he looked above and felt foolish for a moment. Above him the water seemed to reach an air-bubble. He swam upwards and breached the water's surface.

"Sir" one of the squad-members called as he noticed his boss reach the surface. Alit looked for the source of the sound, found it and swam towards them. He climbed up on a stone floor, which surrounded the entire pool, so the only way in or out was through the pool and the barrier at the door. "We've already started to set up a small research station, sir" the member continued as Alit removed his mask and oxygen tank. Their leader had instructed them that even though the rumors were the top priority, they were always to document and analyze new sites if possible.

"Very well" Alit said and made a quick decision. "You four stay here. Document everything you see and make sure to steam data to Ground Control if possible."

"And you, sir?" the man asked.

"I'll be taking a look around this old temple by myself."

"But, sir" the man started to argue. "What if you come across an actual legendary Pokémon? What if…"

"Are you saying I can't take care of myself?" Alit's eyes flashed hard at his underling, who visibly shrunk under the scrutiny. "As I said, you stay here to gather and analyze data as well as you can. I'm going."

"Sir, yes, sir!" the men replied in unison.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_14:32, ?_

Alit shivered as he walked up yet another flight of stairs. The wet diving suit was heavy to walk in, the air was cold and the place damp and moist. All in all, Alit felt miserable. _A nice cozy fire, that's what I need right now_ he thought as he crossed his arms and rubbed himself in an attempt to get warm. The staircase ended and Alit stepped out into a large, domed room. _This is new_ he thought as he looked around. The first few floors had been like the entrance – a stone ring for walking and then nothing, presumably to dive down or fly up through the ruin. Then there had been a few floors of smaller rooms, with closed floors. Each room had been different, yet much the same. Now he found himself in a large, circular room with a dome-shaped ceiling. All the rooms so far had been pure white, but the decorations here were different as well. The room was primarily chalk-white and white was still the dominating color, with the floor, walls and ceiling being white. But in this room, the pillars were covered in deep-blue protrusions, which almost resembled fins. _Pillars with fins? Now I've seen it all_ Alit thought and shivered. There was something not right here.

He had heard nothing from his squad members, so he assumed they were still gathering data. However, communications were still down so he couldn't check in with them.

A breeze stirred and Alit shivered. _It's too cold down here_ he thought. _Once I'm done here, I'm getting a long, warm bath._ He started to walk around the edge of the room, running his hand across the wall and its carvings. The carvings were meaningless to him and he felt with a bitter sting of resentment that Vector would have known what they meant immediately. They were pretty, though, and even if he couldn't understand the significance, he was able to give the pictures some meaning, though he wasn't sure it was correct. What he gathered was that once, the Pokémon this ruin had been built for, had been in a struggle with another strong Pokémon and had won, banishing the other. As a result, that Pokémon was revered as a hero and took up residence in this ruin, which must have sunk beneath the surface sometime after these carvings.

As he was about halfway through the room he felt a soft gust of wind. Chilled, Alit started rubbing himself more furiously, as he thought to himself, _I should have brought a change of clothes. I never realized the wind would be this cold._ Then, realization struck and Alit stopped dead in his tracks. _Wait, wind?_ He turned around and felt another soft gust blow on his face. _There's no wind underwater_ he thought, _so where is this wind coming from?_

Curious, he searched the wall more thoroughly, until he found a slight crack. He put his eye to the crack, but couldn't see inside. It was too dark. That was just another strange thing about this place. Even though they were more than a hundred meters below the surface where no sunlight ever reaches, this place was lit up so they had no need of flash-lights. Alit had been confused at first until he discovered that the light source was a special fungus, or moss, which grew well down here and gave off an eerie, pale light. He looked around for the fungus, or moss or whatever it was, and found it on most of the pillars. He scooped some into his hand and returned to the crack, then softly pushed it in. The fungus-moss easily slipped through, but its light was too weak to reveal anything. Alit was about to push in some more, when he noticed that the fungus-moss in his hand had stopped shining.

_So it can only glow while it's still growing_ he thought and made a mental note of bringing some back for Vector to study. Vector was in charge of their science-division and as such, any data collected had to go through him. That included this fungus-moss. Alit gave a mock smile at the thought of Vector burying his face in the fungus-moss.

Alit returned to searching the wall. There was a crack in it, he knew that. And there was something back there, because air was softly coming through the crack. There was nothing around the crack that even hinted at a doorway, so he widened his search to include most of the room.

He finally found it, though it was more luck than skill. He was just a few meters to the right of the entrance, when his fingers stumbled upon a small cavity behind a protruding statue. Exploring the cavity, he found a small handle which he pulled. A door opened up slowly, allowing Alit to go through. The passageway was dark; apparently there was no glow-moss here. Alit lit up his flash-light, a function build into the head-part of the suit, and walked through it. The passageway immediately turned to his left, following the curving of the room. He soon found himself next to the crack. Opposite it was a staircase. _Great, more stairs_ he thought as he started climbing, following the soft breeze that blew down at him.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_14:50, ?_

"Have we had any luck contacting the surface yet?" one of the squad-members asked.

The one sitting at the laptop shook his head. "No, but I've configured it to constantly check for a connection" he said. "As soon as it establishes a connection, it will send all the data we've gathered."

"Alright, then" the first man replied and looked towards the flight of stairs that their boss had gone up about an hour ago. "Let's do as he asked, then. We'll keep on collecting data." _And hope that our boss is alright._

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_14:52, ?_

_Oh good, no more stairs_ Alit thought as he could see the end of the staircase. He reached the top and took a few steps through a short hallway and entered another circular chamber. _Whoever built this must have never seen a square_ Alit thought and smiled to himself. He looked around and immediately noticed something was wrong with this room. The room below had had a domed ceiling, but this room had a flat floor. But the most striking difference was that the walls were all blue instead of white. And instead of the pillars having blue protrusions they had white indentations. _It's almost like a complete reversal_ Alit realized.

He walked around the edge of the rooms, studying the pictures and glyphs. Where the lower floor had been filled with scenes of war and battle, the pictures here depicted something else and as Alit studied them, a feeling of ease and tranquility settled over him. _Peace_ he thought. _This room symbolizes peace_. He continued to wander around the room, trying to piece together the meaning, when he came across another section of wall.

At first he walked right past it, but his eye had seen something that his conscious mind was unaware off. He stopped, stepped back and turned to face the wall. It was a small carving, about the size of his hand that kept on attracting the attention of his eyes. He studied it, trying to see what his subconscious had discovered right away. When he finally realized it, he felt like slapping himself. _It's not a carving, it's a statue_ Alit said to himself. All the other carvings on this floor had been going into the rock they were placed on, but this one was bulging outwards. He leaned closer, studying the small statue. The statue itself was uninteresting, nothing more than an oval sphere, like the shape of an egg. But a thin, black line surrounded it; a crevice. It wasn't a statue, it was a button.

"But what does it do?" Alit wondered aloud, speaking to the empty room. His voice echoed and would have spooked any other person, but Alit was too deep in thought to notice. _Should I push it?_ he asked himself, in his mind this time. _Who knows what will happen. But so far, I've found nothing. If there's anything here, I will find it by pushing that button._ He put his hand on it and pushed. The rock didn't move. He tried again, placing both hands on the rock, but it didn't help. The statue-button stayed where it was. Alit then changed tactics and tried to pull the statue, only to lose his grip and fall flat.

_Okay, gloves off_ he thought as he literally took of the gloves connected to his suit. He put both hands up to the rock and felt a soft breeze. _So the breeze is coming from behind this rock_ Alit thought, before he placed his hands on the stone. The stone was strangely warm to touch and no sooner than Alit had placed his hands on it, a loud rumble could be heard to the right. Puzzled, Alit looked and saw yet another door swing open.

As soon as it was fully open, the stone became cold again. Alit peered into the doorway. It was dark but the light of his flash-light revealed more stairs. Alit groaned and started to climb.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:07, ?_

_If I ever see another flight of stairs it will be too soon_ Alit thought as he struggled against the heavy wind up a circling flight of stairs. He had started his climb about five minutes ago and under normal circumstances, it would have taken him a minute to reach the height he was at now. But these were anything but normal circumstances. As soon as he had reached what he judged to be the first full turn, something had triggered and a strong wind had started to blow from above. With only one way to go, the wind intensified and came upon Alit like a hurricane. The first blow had caught him of guard and made him fall backwards, hurting his back a little. After a minute he had been back up again, this time prepared for the heavy wind. But still his climb was slow, as each step he climbed only seemed to increase the wind resistance. He had considered sending out one of his bulkier Pokémon to act as a shield from the wind but if it would be caught unaware by a sudden gust, it could come tumbling down on him and Alit had no desire to be crushed by a Pokémon.

A howl sounded on the wind as Alit forced himself up another few steps. _That's new_ he thought; then he pushed harder. Another few minutes and he could finally see the end of the stairs. He fought against the wind, shielding his eyes from the gusts. Suddenly he was at the top and the wind ceased. Alit nearly tumbled forward but managed to correct himself. He looked around bewildered, amazed that he had made it to the top, then returned his gaze to the middle of the room and swallowed.

The room itself was circular, though smaller in diameter than the one he had come from. The walls were featureless, merely dyed in blue and white colors. There were no pillars in this room either. But none of this was what had made him swallow.

In the middle of the room hovered a fully awake Pokémon. Its body was silver-white and shone beautifully in the soft glow of the glow-moss. Its underside, which was clearly visible from Alit's position, was a dark blue. A tail could be seen hanging from its long body, with blue protrusions at regular intervals. It resembled a bird and a dragon at the same time, with powerful hind legs and even more so wings, which seemed to resemble hands. Its long slender neck led up to a head which contained a powerful beak-like jaw, white eyes framed by blue spikes and an arcing point on the back of its head.

"You're real…" Alit said softly, not noting that he spoke out loud for the third time. The large Pokémon inclined its head, as if studying the small being in front of it. Alit usually didn't think of himself as small, in fact he was used to looking over the heads of most people, but this giant in front of him was twice his size and then some.

"Ga?" a small voice sounded from behind the larger and a smaller head, similar to the first, popped up over the shoulder.

_It's a parent and child_ Alit thought and for a moment felt bad about his mission. But, a mission is a mission and his was to investigate and catch. Alit shook himself and smiled at the two Pokémon. "Hi there" he said and spread out his arms, showing he wasn't a threat. "My name is Alit. May I know yours?" As soon as he finished speaking, Alit had the strangest feeling. It was like being pushed out of his body, yet still in full control. His head felt like it was going to burst and then all of a sudden it was gone. "Éclair" Alit said, tasting the word. "That's your name, Éclair?" The adult Pokémon bowed its head in confirmation.

"Lu?" the small voice said again as it struggled to get a better view of the newcomer.

_I wonder how long they have been alone_ Alit thought. _They must have been down here when the ruins sank. They probably don't even know they are underwater, which would mean they have lived here for unknown eons._ He looked at the two Pokémon and once more felt a pang of regret of what he had to do. He approached the two Pokémon slowly, to show that he was no threat. He touched the belly of the parent. It was soft and covered in a mixture of feathers and fur. He slowly reached into a small pocket in his suit and fetched out a small sphere. The sphere was colored black with two grey bands running in an X-formation from a small button. Above it, a golden O decorated the ball.

"It's a toy, see?" Alit said, as he held it up to the child. "You push this button, to make it grow big." Alit demonstrated and pushed the button. The sphere grew to a ball the size of his fist. "Then, if you push it again, it shrinks, like this." Alit pushed the button once more and the sphere turned to its former size. "You can have it, if you like." The adult moved its head close to the ball, sniffed at it but when it sensed no danger, disregarded it. Alit placed the sphere on the floor and rolled it away. The smaller Pokémon, only about half a meter in length, jumped of its parent, glided down to the floor and pushed the button. The sphere grew. It pushed it again and the sphere shrunk.

"Lugi Lu" it cried happily and started to roll it around, only to chase it and press the button repeatedly. Alit smiled at the sight. The heinous act he was about to commit was almost too much to bear, but only almost. He didn't know how long he should wait, when he suddenly felt the strange feeling in his head again, a sensation he now knew was Éclair in his head. This time the pain was worse than before and he felt it searching through his mind, as if looking for something. And he felt its anger when it clearly didn't like what it found.

It roared. The cry was a deafening roar that made its child look up from its play and Alit cover his ears. _No time like the present_ Alit thought and pushed something on his wrist-computer. The ball that the young one had been playing with opened and the child was converted to energy and sucked inside before the ball snapped close. The child struggled to get out but to no avail; it could not fight the power of the ball and was trapped inside.

Its parent roared again and lunged itself at Alit, who barely managed to dodge. He scooped around it and snatched up the small sphere, pocketing it safely in his suit. Mad with rage, the great Pokémon breathed in, before unleashing a huge stream of compressed air, mixed with green energy. The attack barely missed Alit but impacted the wall, which burst immediately and water started to rush in, threatening to squash them alive.

Not wasting a second, Alit flung on his diving mask and ran towards the large Pokémon. It fired another beam of condensed air at him, but missed again. The floor however was torn up and shrapnel hit Alit, though it didn't breach the suit. The huge Pokémon swung a great wing at Alit. He anticipated the attack and grabbed hold of the wing, though the blow still hurt him more than he had expected. The great Pokémon flapped its wings, trying to shake him off. But Alit held on and timed his jump so he landed on the Pokémon's back. He grabbed hold of a pair of spikes. _Here goes_ he thought as the Pokémon, furious as him, smashed itself into the incoming water.

It fought against the torrent and once on the other side of the ruins, arched its neck to deliver yet another powerful attack. Alit managed to dodge it while still holding on to the Pokémon's back and the beam of compressed air impacted the ruin, which was already starting to crumble.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:25, ?_

A loud rumble could be heard in the hall where the four members of Alit's team had set up a temporary base camp. At first it was nothing; then the entire building shook.

"What is going on here?" one of them asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

"I don't know" the man who had confronted Alit said. "But whatever it is, it can't be good. We should find the boss and…"

"Hey, I have a connection" the man at the computer called. "A connection to Ground Control suddenly became available. It's transmitting data now."

"Good" the second guy said. "Then perhaps we should go find…"

"WATER!" the fourth man shouted, as he came running down a flight of stairs. He had taken it upon himself to investigate the second floor and had now come rushing down the stairs.

"No need" the second man, who seemed to be in charge, replied. "It's right there. Besides, we brought plenty of supplies."

"No, there's water coming in!" he said as he stopped in front of his friends, panting for air. "The ruin has sprung a leak, we're going to drown!"

"Everyone, suit up…" the second man started to say but before he could give more orders a beam of concentrated air burst through the wall and water rushed into the room, filling it with water instantly.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:26, ?_

Alit held on tight as the creature he was riding on shot through the water towards the surface. He was struggling to keep his hold, as they shot through the water at great speeds. They had crossed through the seaweed in half a minute, a journey which had taken Alit and his team an hour. Now they were navigating a series of pillar-like cliffs, much akin to the place they had first dived into the water. The Pokémon angled upwards and breached the water, raising a pillar of water at least 20 meters behind it. If Alit had the time to look down, it would have been an amazing sight. Alit, however, did not have the time to look down as the Pokémon started a series of complex aerial manoeuvrings designed to throw him off. The Pokémon looped around and twisted and twirled and Alit was starting to lose his grip.

The Pokémon turned and aimed for the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Alit saw the member that had stayed on the ground. He looked frantic, and the absurdity caused Alit to giggle. Just before the Pokémon would have hit the ground it angled up and flew mere inches above the grass. Alit let go and rolled as he hit the ground. The Pokémon took to the air and turned around, readying another blast. But Alit was already at his feet and had a Poké Ball in his hand.

"Lampent, quick, use Shadow Ball" he called as he threw his Poké Ball to release the creature inside. A black Pokémon with a glassy-head and steel-like hat and arms appeared. It looked much like an old lantern and Alit had used it more than once to find his way in the dark. But now the Pokémon was to fight. It put its arms together and a dark-purple ball started to form between them. It quickly charged up and became half the size of Lampent itself. The Pokémon in the air fired its blast of air and Lampent released the attack it had been building. The two attacks collided and exploded, sending shock-waves far and the sound of the impact further.

"That's some serious fire-power" Alit said with a smile as wind gushed past his face. "But ours is better. Lampent, Will-O-Wisp!" Lampent conjured up six small purple flames which flew towards the Pokémon. It tried to dodge the flames, but was hit and cried out in pain. In retaliation, the Pokémon shot out a powerful burst of water, hitting Lampent straight on. "That's Hydro Pump" Alit said, more to himself than Lampent, which was panting heavily after just one attack. But the opponent was getting tired too.

"Alright, Lampent" Alit said to his panting Pokémon. "Let's see this through. Use Inferno!"

"Pent!" Lampent replied. It placed its arms in front of its body and a small, blue flame took shape. It quickly grew and Lampent moved its arms to its head, placing the flame on top of itself. Then, it bent towards the hovering Pokémon and spun around, sending a stream of blue fire towards the ancient Pokémon. The flying Pokémon roared and sprayed a massive Hydro Pump at the incoming attack. The two attacks collided in a mighty clash, steam enveloping the ground in seconds.

"You can do it, Lampent!" Alit shouted.

"Lam Lampent!" Lampent roared and spun faster, putting even more power behind the attack. It started to push back the incoming fire, slowly at first, then more effectively as the opposition was losing ground. The opposing Pokémon suddenly stopped its attack, panting, and the blue fire hit it squarely on its body. It roared in pain as the searing blue flames rushed over its body, leaving it in even worse shape than before.

"Now, end it with Hex, Lampent!" Alit shouted. Lampent's eyes started to glow red and an aura of the same color appeared around the much larger Pokémon, which writhed in pain from the assault. Struggling against the aura, the Pokémon craned its neck, stared directly at Lampent and started building energy in its mouth. "Lampent, Shadow Ball!" Alit called, as he realized what the opponent was about to do. Lampent heard him and released its hold on its prey, in order to charge a Shadow Ball in front of it. Released from its constraints, the opponent beat its wings and fired a green beam of condensed air at Lampent. Lampent unleashed its attack at the same time, and the two attacks collided and exploded. The force of the blast sent everyone flying. Alit were blow backwards and his back smashed against a rock. Lampent was blown next to its trainer, defeated. The large Pokémon sailed through the air, badly hurt, and out over the ocean. It fell, having no power to correct its fall and landed with a giant splash. Water sprayed up over the cliffs.

"You did very well, Lampent" Alit said as he slowly felt feeling returning to his extremities. At least nothing serious had been broken in the impact. He looked over at his Ghost/Fire-type, which lay unresponsive. "You deserve a long rest – we both do" he said and recalled his Pokémon.

Just then, a truck drove up to him, and a man sprang out. It was the last member of their squad. "Are you alright?" he asked his boss as he helped Alit to his feet.

"I'm fine" Alit said as he got up. Pain seared through his ribs, apparently he wasn't as fine as he wanted to be, but the underling didn't need to know that.

Alit found his phone and started to dial a number. He couldn't wait to hear how a certain someone would react to being the laughing stock.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:36, ?_

Vector was standing in a darkened room, only lit by a variety of computer screens. Each screen was occupied by a scientist or technician, whom was studying the displayed data. A few minutes ago they had received a burst of information from an employee, who had left a few days ago with Alit on his mission. One of the assistants had called Vector, who had just now entered the room. He was standing in front of a large screen, which occupied most of the wall. He turned it on and glossed over the information. There were texts, pictures and other, more special, kinds of data. It would take a while to get through all of that.

Just then, his phone rang. "Yes" Vector said flatly as he answered the call, his mind occupied by the data on the screen.

"_Mission accomplished_" the voice in the other end said. Vector identified the voice as belonging to Alit.

"You retrieved the target?" Vector asked unimpressed.

"_That's right_" Alit replied. "_I managed to do what you couldn't._" Vector snorted but otherwise ignored the jibe.

"Good" he said simply, getting his frustration under control. "We have received the data your team sent us and are…"

"Sir" a technician interrupted. "You have to see this." He tapped a few buttons and a new window opened on the wall monitor. It displayed a map of the area around the Diving Cliffs, with Alit's phone in the center. Off to the south-east, two red dots were approaching along the road, fast.

"_What is it?_" Alit asked.

"It seems you're about to get company" Vector said and touched the red dots on the screen. It zoomed in and two sets of numbers appeared next to each dot. "Run those IDs" he said to a technician.

"I found a match" the technician replied after a few seconds. "They appear to be IDs of a pair of Pokédex." The technician pushed another few buttons and two windows popped up next to the former. Each of the two windows displayed an image, as well as various statistics. The first picture was that of a young teenager with brown hair and blue eyes. The other was a similarly young male with red hair and brown eyes.

Vector clenched his fist but said calmly to Alit: "A pair of young trainers is heading your way. It appears to be the same as the ones who stopped us in Relyb City less than a week ago."

"_Oh, you mean the two twerps that beat you?_" Alit mocked.

"Just return to Headquarters, your task there is done" Vector said and hung up the phone. The last remark had infuriated him more than it should have. He hadn't lost to the boys, he had been bested by the Stantler. _Calm down_ he told himself. _Alit is just trying to upset you, don't let him win_. Vector took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. For now, there was nothing to do but wait for Alit to return with the legendary Pokémon. Vector smiled. _When they arrive, the real test can begin._

* * *

**Well, what did you think? Was it as good as you had hoped/expected? Did it leave you feeling something? I'm really interested in hearing your first opinion on this.  
**

**Now, if you feel like there were a lot of breaks in there... you're probably right. This chapter started minutes before the events of chapter 11 started. The events in the end of last chapter refers to the battle above ground between Lampent and... Lugia! That's right, the legendary Pokémon was a Lugia. I think I left you some hints so let me know if you caught any of them.  
**

**Other than that, this was a really fun chapter for me to write. It was interesting to myself in the shoes of a sympathetic villain and see things from his point-of-view. It was weird to only have a single cameo appearance of our main characters but I think I might do this again sometime.**

**As always, let me know what you think of the chapter and story of a whole. I'm still accepting suggestions for Tynamo's nickname so throw those along too. I'll see you all next time with a shorter, easier chapter, allowing all of us to catch our breath.  
**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

Tynamo; Male; Nickname: n/a; type: Electric; Ability: Levitate; Current Moves: Tackle - Thunder Wave - Spark - Charge Beam


	17. Endings and New Beginnings!

**Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone and welcome to the newest chapter of the Gawaro Chronicles.**

**Last time, as you all remember, Alit and his gang got their hands on a baby Lugia, before fleeing the scene when vector told him that our heroes was on their way (why no one ever questioned how exactly they had access to the central Pokédex database is beyond me...).**

**This time around, we're wrapping up those events and getting ready for new adventures. That's right, the next arc starts next week.**

* * *

**Chapter 17 – Endings and New Beginnings!**

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_15:58, The Diving Cliffs, north-west of Pirepsah City._

It had only been half an hour ago since the group had left Pirepsah City, but in that half hour the weather had made a complete reversal. From the cloudless, sunny summers day in the morning, to a grey and overcast afternoon. There was even a light drizzle in the air. Alex drove the jeep as fast as was reasonably safe, through the small paths in the forest leading up to the Diving Cliffs. Next to him sat Mia, hanging on to the vehicle with all her strength, trying desperately to stay in her seat every time a small bump in the road sent them flying. Behind her, Casey and Tyson were sitting on the backseats, clinging even more desperately to the frame of the jeep.

No one said a word; the situation was much too dire for idle chit-chat. Besides, none of them knew what to say. They all wanted to see what had happened, but asking meaningless questions such as 'What's going on?' or 'What could have caused it?' was pointless at this time. So instead, they kept quiet, each with their own thoughts. Alex focused solely on the road ahead of him, aiming to bring the group to their destination as fast and safe as possible. Mia was nervous and a bit scared. In all her life, she had never heard of anything like this happening nor did she have any idea of what it could be.

"How much longer until we are there?" Casey asked from behind her, shocking her by breaking the silence. She looked out of the window, before answering.

"I think we'll be there in about five minutes" she said. Casey nodded and sank back in his seat. She turned her head slightly, to study the boys in the rear mirror.

Casey looked sullen. No, not sullen, thoughtful, as if trying to piece together what little info they had to something that made sense. As he sat there, deep in thought, he actually seemed… Well, not handsome, but he definitely looked good. Thinking suited him, Mia remarked to herself and blushed a little.

Next to him was Tyson, the hot-blooded, red-headed youth which had insulted her cousin. But as she had observed their battles, she had come to see that Alex had been right, it had been a simple misunderstanding. Besides, he was much more outgoing than his friend and the audience had seemed to enjoy that.

She shifted her look to her cousin. He looked tense and worried, as if he feared the worst. He probably was, though. Four days ago he had gotten a phone call from a member of the Elite Four. Alex had taken the call in private, which was normal when the Elite Four wanted something, but he would always fill her in afterwards. Not this time though. This time, he had kept it secret. Perhaps the incidents were related?

The jeep skidded to a stop, throwing everyone but Alex forward. Mia managed to push against the dashboard in time but heard one of the boys utter a muffled groan. Alex sprang out of the jeep and the three teenagers followed suit. They regrouped out in the open, Tyson nursing his forehead.

"That way" Alex said and pointed in a north-western direction. He started running and the group of teenagers followed him. They soon reached the site of whatever had happened and they all stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the scene in front of them with dismay. The grass had dried up and withered in several places, as if exposed to extreme heat or wind. Some of the bushes had been completely uprooted and even some of the smaller trees were standing at odd angles.

"What happened here?" Tyson said, uttering the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I do not know" Alex replied with a soft shake of his head. They looked around at the scene, trying to figure out what could have caused such destruction. Alex went over to the edge of the cliff and bent down. He picked something up and studied it, though the teens couldn't see what. "Blood" he said, as an answer to their eminent question. "It is fresh, too, hardly clotting at all." He peered over the cliff. "There is more down there" he said. "Whatever the source, it is long gone." He got up and walked back to the group.

"Do you think it's a Pokémon?" Mia asked.

"Without a doubt" Alex replied. "And from the amount, it is either a very big one or it is in trouble."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Casey asked.

"I am afraid not" Alex said. "We do not know what caused it, or what even transpired." The group was silent for a moment as they all stared at the destruction.

"Do you think… it's 'them'?" Casey asked Tyson, still looking around.

"Maybe" Tyson said. "I don't know. We don't even know who 'they' are, after all."

"Hmm?" Alex hummed, looking expectantly at the boys. Casey quickly explained about their meeting with Bruce, the Gym Leader of Relyb City, and how he had to escort a group of scientists into the forest to look at the Forest Shrine. But when they had entered the Shrine, the scientists had shown their true colors and attempted to capture its guardian, which turned out to be a Stantler. He finished by telling how the Stantler had saved him and chased the thieves off.

"But that's all we know" Casey concluded.

"Then I fear you might be right" Alex said. Everyone stared at him. "A few days ago I got a call from the Elite Four, describing the same scene you just told us" Alex said. Tyson couldn't help but gasp when Alex mentioned the Elite Four, but no one took notice of that right now. "I believe it would be better to report these events to the Elite Four, even if they are unrelated."

"Well, the Forest Shrine was rumored to be the home of a legendary Pokémon" Tyson said, thinking out loud. "What about this place? Is there anything special tied to it?"

"There is a legend" Alex said slowly. "It is said that long ago, this area was ruled by the 'Guardian of the Sea'. But a war erupted and its palace sunk into the ocean, leaving behind only these cliffs. Recently, people claim to have seen the Pokémon spoken off in legend, but those rumors are always present."

"Then I believe these events are connected" Casey said. "If only we could do something."

"If these events are connected, I would advise you to do nothing" Alex said. "Whoever is behind this is organized and very dangerous. To pull off not one but two such operations in a week, tells us that whoever is responsible is a dangerous adversary. And let us say, for arguments sake, that you had made it here in time, what would you have done? All of your Pokémon are too tired to fight. No, it is for the best that we did not arrive until now." Casey and Tyson looked down, shamefaced. They knew Alex was right but the words still stung. Mia looked at them and felt a pang of sympathy.

"Let's go back" Mia suggested. "Let's all return to Pirepsah City and get our Pokémon checked up, then you two can set out on your journey tomorrow."

The boys agreed and everyone slowly walked back to the jeep.

* * *

_Sunday the 18__th__ of Silversun_

_18:48, Pirepsah City Pokémon Center_

"How are your Pokémon?" Mia asked as she, Casey and Tyson sat down to eat in the Trainers Lounge. The Lounge was pretty full due to the tournament earlier in the day and it had been hard to get a table for four. It was even harder for Alex to struggle through the crowd as everyone wanted his autograph. No one seemed to care that Casey and Tyson had won and Mia was to shaken to be annoyed with no one asking for hers.

"Nurse Joy said they will be okay" Tyson replied, gazing out the window as he poked his food. "But she also said we pushed them to their limits today. All they need is a good night's rest." Mia looked at the two boys, none of which seemed in a good mood.

_It's strange_ she thought as she took a bite. _They don't seem happy about winning over us._ "So, where are you heading next?" she asked them.

"Don't know yet" Casey said. Tyson just shrugged.

"Sorry, sorry" Alex said as he finally made it to the table and sat down. "I never realized it could be this hard dealing with fans. Just hope my food have not gone cold." He looked around at the teenagers and saw that none of them looked glad. Even Mia looked downcast and thoughtful. "Where are you going next?" Alex asked and took a bite.

_I just asked that_ Mia thought but said nothing.

"Don't know yet" Casey said once more. Tyson shrugged again.

"Look, cheer up" Alex said. "I talked with Nurse Joy, she did not mean it as harsh as it may have sounded. But you will never get better unless you cheer up." The boys looked at him. There was something about him, Mia thought. It wasn't the words he had said – her cousin didn't always know how to express himself. But the way he said it seemed to fill the boys with hope, with joy. They smiled and agreed with him and even started eating again. In just a few seconds, he had transformed them from sulky back to their normal, happy self. _So that's what it means to be a Gym Leader_ Mia thought.

"So, where is the next Gym?" Tyson asked and started stuffing himself.

Casey found his map. "I believe it would be… here!" he said and pointed to a place on the map. It was a small town, somewhat north-east of Mt. Modnaid and a long walk east from Relyb City.

"That is right" Alex said. Casey put away his map and returned to his food. The chatter descended into small talk and as it got late, Alex and Mia retired to their homes. Casey and Tyson retired to each their room.

"See you tomorrow, Tyson" Casey said.

"Sleep tight" Tyson replied, already halfway through the door.

* * *

_Monday the 19__th__ of Silversun_

_08:55, Pirepsah City Pokémon Center_

"Tyson, are you awake yet?" Casey called through the door. This was the second time in two days that Tyson hadn't shown up for breakfast. Casey knocked on the door and thought he heard something from within. "Tyson?" he called again.

"Come in" Tyson called.

"I can't" Casey replied. "The door is still locked."

"One moment" Tyson replied. There was a strange, muffled sound, then a thud of something falling, before the click of the lock finally sounded. Bracing himself, Casey opened the door and stepped through.

"Close it, quickly" Tyson said, standing with his back to the door. Casey did as he was told and closed the door. He looked around the room, which was just as messy as the day before.

_Don't you ever learn?_ Casey thought a shook his head. "So what's the story this time?" he asked, seating himself on Tyson's bed.

"I wanted to get to know Tynamo better" Tyson started as he looked on top of the shelves. "I thought maybe if we played a little he would listen. But he just ignored me last night, so I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't find him."

"And you didn't recall him last night?" Casey asked.

"No, I thought he might enjoy a night outside of the Poké Ball" Tyson replied as he rummaged through his backpack. When he realized Tynamo wasn't there either, he slumped to the floor. "But now I can't find him anywhere."

"Look, I'll help you search, okay?" Casey said. "Just please, put some clothes on."

"Huh? Oh, right" Tyson said as he realized he was still wearing his night clothes. He grabbed a pair of socks from his backpack and put them on, then reached for his pants. He stuck the first leg into them, gave a yelp of pain and threw the trousers away. The hit the wall and fell down and a dazed Tynamo slowly came out of one leg.

"So that's where he was" Casey said grinning as he picked up Tynamo's Poké Ball and called it back.

"Why is it always my leg…" Tyson whimpered, rubbing his jolted leg.

"You'll get over it" Casey said and threw the pants back to Tyson.

"Thanks for the support" Tyson grumbled as he caught the pants.

"Breakfast" Casey said.

"Just a sec!" Tyson called and rushed into his clothes. Casey just sat back with a smile, having proven his point. "Ready" Tyson said in less than a minute.

* * *

_Monday the 19__th__ of Silversun_

_09:43, Outside Pirepsah City Pokémon Center_

After the boys had finished breakfast they had retrieved their backpacks and checked out of the Pokémon Center. They had agreed to meet with Alex and Mia outside, but when they got there, only Alex was to be seen.

"Good morning, boys" Alex greeted them with a smile.

"Morning Alex" Tyson replied happy, now that his missing Pokémon had been found and his belly full of delicious breakfast.

"Are you ready to set out?" the Gym Leader asked.

"I think so" Casey replied, finding his Pokédex. He quickly looked up the map and zoomed in on the town he had picked out yesterday. "The next Badge was here, right? In Dalemer Town?" he asked for confirmation. Next to him, Tyson scratched his head, trying to remember where he had heard that name before.

"That is right" Alex said.

"Now I know!" Tyson blurted out and snapped his fingers. "There were a pair of girls in the tournament yesterday. They were from Dalemer Town!"

"Hey, you're right" Casey said. "And they used a Bellsprout and a Paras."

"So the next Gym is a Grass-type Gym" Tyson deduced. Alex smiled, but said nothing.

"Well, we have to get going" Casey said after a few seconds of silence. "But where's Mia? I thought she was coming too."

"As did I" Alex replied. "I do wonder what is keeping her…"

"Sorry I'm late!" Mia called from around the corner. The three males turned to look at the young girl who came running towards them, a large backpack on her back.

"What's with the bag?" Tyson asked curiously when Mia reached them, panting. "Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm… coming… with you" she said between her panting.

"What?!" Tyson exclaimed.

"That's great!" Casey said. "But I don't understand why though."

"I…" Mia started, then stopped. Gathering her thoughts, she started again. "After all that happened yesterday… The tournament, the disaster... I've realized that I'm not ready to be a Gym Leader yet." She stopped and looked at Alex. "You've been like a brother to me and I can't thank you enough for having me as your disciple for so long… But I need to go out there, to see the world. And… I…"

Alex smiled at her. "It is okay" he said. "I will explain everything to your parents. As for myself…" he turned to look at all of them. "I do not think you could find any better traveling companions." Mia beamed at Alex's words and turned to the others.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked, her face aglow with pride and determination.

"What do you say?" Casey asked Tyson, who had finally calmed down after his initial outburst.

"Guess it can't be helped" he sulked, looking away.

"Then have a safe journey" Alex said. The group said their goodbyes and started to walk out of the city, towards the short route that connected Pirepsah City with Goma Passage.

* * *

**I told you this was a short one, but I really think that works for this chapter. If it had dragged out much longer it would just have felt weird.**

**To those of you who feel like Mia wasn't getting enough screen-time before, I'm sure you'll find her an interesting addition to the party. I realize now that it could feel like I'm ripping off the anime, what with a Water-type Gym Leader traveling with the main characters, but that wasn't my intention. Mia is there to balance out the group and hopefully get some dynamics going. And by the way, Mia's Pokémon have nicknames as well, she's just not allowed to use them in Gym Matches due to rules, but they are listed for mine, and your, convenience.**

**So what are your thoughts on the story so far? Any comments, praise or otherwise, is highly valued. Looking forward to see you all in the next arc, next week.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

Tynamo; Male; Nickname: n/a; type: Electric; Ability: Levitate; Current Moves: Tackle - Thunder Wave - Spark - Charge Beam

_Mia:_

Totodile; Female; Nickname: Jaws; Type: Water; Ability: Torrent; Current Moves: Bite - Water Gun - Ice Fang - Aqua Jet

Horsea; Female; Nickname: Equina; Type: Water; Ability: Sniper; Current Moves: BubbleBeam - SmokeScreen - Water Gun - Focus Energy


	18. Heart Lake

**It's Monday and Monday means update day. I hope you've been looking forward to this next arc of the story, which will probably be more mysterious than the last one, which, due to the tournament, was fairly action-packed.**

**And for mystery, I think this chapter is the perfect kick-off.**

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Heart Lake**

_Wednesday the 21__st__ of Silversun_

_11:34, Gawaro League Administration Offices, Mt. Modnaid_

It was a large room that Bruce and Alex, as well as the rest of the Gym Leaders of Gawaro, found themselves in. They usually met once or twice in a year, between one conference and the month break until the next season started, as well as around Christmas. But this was an extraordinary meeting, unscheduled until a few days ago.

Alex had called the Elite Four after Mia had left with Casey and Tyson, to report the scene they had discovered. A day later, each of the Gym Leaders of Gawaro had received a summons by a member of the Elite Four, who wanted them all gathered so they could go over the events and try to figure out what to do.

The Gym Leaders were all seated and occupied ten of the chairs around the large table. The walls were lined with bookcases, giving the room more the feel of a study rather than a meeting room. They all just sat there, small talking and idling, waiting for the member of the Elite Four to appear.

Finally the doors opened and a tall, young man stepped through. He had only recently joined the Elite Four, replacing an older, retiring member, so the Gym Leaders didn't know much about him. His hair was blond and his body slim and he dressed in loose clothes, which almost resembled a gown.

"I've asked you all to come here today" he started as he took his seat around the table, "to discuss a matter of grave import. It has been brought to my attention that someone is going about, chasing after legendary Pokémon. They seem to have started in Relyb City before hitting the Diving Cliffs near Pirepsah City last weekend." He paused to let it sink in. The Gym Leaders shifted uneasily, knowing that the situation was indeed serious if the Elite Four called them here for this. "Since I believe you all should hear this, I will ask Bruce to begin, as he was the first to have any contact with them." The young man gestured to Bruce.

"Uhm, sure" Bruce began. "It was just short of two weeks ago…"

* * *

_Wednesday the 21__st__ of Silversun_

_11:34, Route 703 just outside Goma Passage_

"Finally, daylight!" Tyson shouted as the group of teenagers staggered out of the entrance to Goma Passage. Tired and exhausted, Tyson just fell flat on the ground, while Mia went over to the side of the road to sit in the shade of a tree.

"We would have been here sooner if you hadn't insisted on leading the way" Mia said as she looked for her water bottle in her bag.

"Or maybe someone should just have listened to my directions instead of insisting on going the other way" Tyson shot back.

"Maybe someone would have, if you hadn't been wrong every time!" Mia retorted.

_Here we go again_ Casey thought with a sigh, leaning against the mountain. _Three days of constant bickering since we entered the Passage. I'm just glad we're through now._ He looked at his two travelling companions and saw they were about to start hitting one another, so Casey decided to intercede. "Relax, both of you" he said. "We're out now. We're all tired and hungry, but there's a Pokémon Center just around that bend in the road. We can get food and some rest there."

"Food? I'm in" Tyson said and got up from the ground in a second. Mia reluctantly picked up her backpack and followed the boys along the road. It only took them a minute before they found the Pokémon Center, which was made to resemble a tree. Mia gasped but Casey and Tyson, having passed by only a week earlier ignored the marvel.

The inside looked like any other Pokémon center. Nurse Joy and her Audino were going through some files on her computer, but she greeted them with a smile as they entered. "Hi there, welcome to the… oh, it's you boys! How was your trip?"

"Hi Nurse Joy" Casey replied. "It was amazing. You'll never believe what happened inside that cave."

"But more importantly, check this out!" Tyson interrupted and held out his Current Badge. "We won this in Pirepsah City."

"Oh my, that's impressive" Nurse Joy said with a smile. "Did you make it in time for the tournament too?"

"Yeah, thanks to a bunch of Onix" Casey said.

"Onix?" both Joy and Mia asked.

"He'll tell you over dinner" Tyson said. "I'm really starving. Please tell us the kitchen is already open."

"Of course" Nurse Joy giggled. "I'll join you in a few minutes, so go ahead and start without me."

"We will" Tyson said, already at the door to the Trainers Lounge. Casey sighed and he and Mia followed. The Trainers Lounge was empty, so they quickly filled their plates and found a table and started eating. Just as she had promised, Nurse Joy joined them after a couple of minutes.

"Now, tell me about those Onix." Casey swallowed and started the tale. He began with how they had left the Center and almost immediately an Onix had crashed through the wall, followed by its offspring. They appeared to be chased by a bunch of Drilbur led by an Excadrill. He proceeded to tell how they had given chase and help scare the Excadrill away. Onix had then taken them to a huge electrically charged rock and he found the small pieces of the rock to prove it. "What a fascinating tale" Nurse Joy said. "But then, how did you get to Pirepsah City?"

"Onix gave us a lift" Tyson said between bites. "Without that, we wouldn't have made it in time for the tournament."

"I see" Nurse Joy said. "But why did it then take you two days to cross the Passage the other way?"

"Three" Mia said, earning her a quizzical glance from Joy. "It took us three days. The boys met my cousin and I in the finals and my cousin had promised to have a Gym Battle against them, if they could make it there. They beat us and won the tournament at the same time. We spent three days getting through the Passage because Tyson couldn't find his way."

"I could find the way just fine" Tyson said. "It was you who decided not to listen." The two started to bicker again and Nurse Joy gave Casey a look that seemed to say she was sorry. Casey shrugged and continued his meal.

"Say, have any of you heard about the Heart Lake?" Nurse Joy asked, in an attempt to stop the teens from fighting.

"The Heart Lake?" Mia asked, her argument with Tyson forgotten.

"What kind of name is that?" Tyson asked surly and stabbed at his lunch.

"It's a lake, just a little south of here" Nurse Joy began. "It's a good place for collecting Heart Scales and people say it's a very romantic spot." Mia cast a quick glance at Casey before looking away, blushing slightly. At the same time, Tyson gave Mia a swift glance, before doing the same. Casey just looked intent at Nurse Joy as he finished his lunch. "Maybe you should check it out, if it's not out of your way I mean."

"Can we go, please?" Mia asked, pleading.

"Let's see…" Casey said as he found his map. He quickly located their current position and the lake and saw that the lake was almost next to the route towards Relyb City. "Sure, we can go. It's on the way, anyway." Mia squealed as Casey put away the map.

"Then let's go" she said, already risen from her seat.

"But… but…" Tyson started, but was cut off by a fierce look from Mia.

"It's right by the route" Casey said to soften them up. "We won't be losing much time towards the next Gym Badge by stopping by the lake. Besides, Relyb City is only a day away from here."

"You're right" Tyson sighed and got up, giving a longing look at his still half-filled plate.

* * *

_Wednesday the 21__st__ of Silversun_

_12:07, ?_

"…but when we got there the damage had already been done" Alex said as he prepared to finish up his part of the report. "The scene showed evident signs after a terrible battle and I do not believe it was caused just by a pair of trainers. In fact, when all of the information we have is put together, it points to a battle between a trainer and a legendary Pokémon." A gasp went through the other nine Gym Leaders in the room, though the member of the Elite Four just listened to the tale. "And that concludes my part" Alex said and sat down again.

"Very interesting" one of the Gym Leaders said. The speaker was a large, muscled man. "But if all you have is conjecture then why did you call us here, mr…?"

"Please, call me M" the man from the Elite Four said. "And no, I called you here because I think we may have a serious threat on our hands. I fear that we may soon go through a situation similar to the ones in Hoenn and Sinnoh some years ago."

"You're saying that someone is searching through the Gawaro Region, looking for legendary Pokémon?" another of the Gym Leaders asked. M looked over at the speaker and saw a young woman, no more than 20 years old. Her hair was dyed in multiple hues of green and there was something about her which would send shivers down anyone's spine.

"That's exactly right, young lady" M replied. "I'm sure you all know the history of what happened in Hoenn, when Team Aqua and Team Magma fought for control of the legendary Pókemon, Groudon and Kyogre. The entire region of Hoenn was cast into chaos and if either team had succeeded, Hoenn would have been cast into civil war and other regions would likely have been affected as well." M looked around the assembled Gym Leaders who nodded, they all knew the story. "And Sinnoh wasn't much better off a few years after. Team Galactic nearly managed to plunge the entire region into nothingness. The only thing that stood in their way was a pair young trainers, who managed to put a stop to their evil schemes." M stood up and walked over to a window, looking down on a cobbled yard with a fountain below. "But we can't afford to rely on chance alone." He turned around and looked at the Gym Leaders. All stared back at him, though not all of them seemed interested in what he was saying. "I want you all to be vigilant" M continued. "To watch out for any stories about legendary Pokémon anywhere in the region and investigate it. If it seems like the real deal, call me, and I'll have the location put under surveillance."

"Was that all?" the big man from before asked.

"Whatever do you mean?" M replied with a fake smile, annoyed to be questioned.

"Do you have any evidence to back up your claim?" the big man answered. "How can you be sure what happened in Hoenn and Sinnoh will happen here?"

"I can't" M replied. "That is why I'm asking you to be vigilant. You heard the stories by Bruce and Alex, it is too much of a coincidence to not be the same people behind it." The big man grumbled but made no further comments on the subject. "Then this meeting is adjourned" M said and left the room, leaving the Gym Leaders behind.

"Who does that man think he is?" the muscled man growled as the doors swung shut behind M.

"A member of the Elite Four, a representative of the Champion and your direct superior" the girl from before answered him indifferently. The large man ground his teeth, venting his frustration at being put in place by a young girl.

"Easy now" Bruce said, calming down the situation. "Let's just get going. Sitting here will do us no good." And so, the Gym Leaders left the room, one by one, in order to return to their respective cities.

* * *

_Wednesday the 21__st__ of Silversun_

_17:30, Heart Lake, route 703_

"I thought you said it was practically next to the road" Tyson complained as the group of teenagers stumbled through the last patch of undergrowth and into a clearing. Tyson threw down his backpack and sat down, using it as a chair, facing in the direction they had just come from. Mia was standing next to him, panting from walking through the forest. Casey just smiled and wiped his brow.

"Guess my map is a little out of date" he said with a grin.

"You think so?" Mia panted.

"Relax" Casey replied. "I got us here, didn't I?"

"What do you mean here?" Tyson started. "It's just a…" Tyson was cut off by Casey, who pointed to something behind Tyson. Tyson turned his head and at first just saw that the clearing seemed to expand a lot. Then, as Mia looked at it and made a sound that was half a gasp, half a sigh, he understood why the clearing was broadening. They hadn't entered a clearing, they had left the woods completely and in front of them was Heart Lake. The still waters gave a perfect reflection of the slowly descending sun.

"It's beautiful" Mia sighed.

A lone Taillow took flight from the nearby trees and landed near the edge, stepped slowly into the water and started drinking. Once its thirst had been quenched, the Taillow took flight again. As the group looked out over the lake, more wild Pokémon appeared to refresh themselves. A small group of Sentret stood in one area, one or two constantly looking for intruders. They paid special attention to the teenagers, who made sure to stand completely still, so as not to disturb them. A Lombre approached the water, followed by a group of small Lotad. It started pointing at the water and seemed to explain something, only to find that all of the Lotad was immediately goofing around in the water, causing the Lombre to start shouting and the teenagers to start laughing.

"I hate to break the tranquility" Casey said, "but I don't think we can make it back to the Pokémon Center before it's dark. So what do you say to setting up camp here?"

"Really, can we do that?" Mia exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

"Meh, why not" Tyson replied. "This is as good a spot as any."

"Alright" Casey said. "Then I'll get started on preparing dinner. Tyson, you can gather firewood for a bonfire and after that, help me pitch the tent. Mia, you can…"

"Go search the shore of the lake for Heart Scales?" Mia interrupted. "I am so on it." Mia saluted Casey and ran towards the lake.

"I was going to ask her to see if there were any tables and benches nearby, but I guess this works" Casey said with a laugh.

Going on Mia's actions, Tyson had a quick thought. "Well, now that you're being lax, I think I'll…"

"Go into the forest and find that firewood? Excellent idea" Casey said with a mock smile, causing Tyson to sigh and head back into the forest. "And if you see any Teddiursa, try not to attack them." Tyson simply growled a reply, which Casey pretended not to hear.

Over the course of the next hour, Tyson gathered firewood and returned and with Corona's help they soon had a blaze going. Casey quickly whipped up an easy dish and some Pokémon food. As the food cooked, Casey and Tyson got the tent set up and managed to make a makeshift shelter for Mia. When she returned from her treasure hunt, however, she insisted on getting the inside of the tent and the boys would have to settle with the makeshift cover. Tyson started to argue, but for the sake of maintaining the piece, Casey caved, figuring they could trade the tent in to a larger one with two rooms at the next Pokémon Center. Mia and Tyson were both satisfied with that and as Casey took care of the last part of their supper, Tyson and Mia set up a dining area. Just under an hour after they had arrived at the lake, the group was sitting and eating. Their Pokémon, all seven of them, were eating a bowl of Pokémon food next to them.

"This is great" Mia said after a short while.

"Yeah, Casey's real handy in a kitchen" Tyson said. "I don't know anyone else who can make rations taste this good."

"I'm glad you like it" Casey said as he took another bite. "And what about you guys? Are you enjoying your meal as well?" The Pokémon replied with a variety of cries, before returning to their dinner.

"Look, guys!" Mia shouted and pointed at the lake. The boys turned to look and saw a pink Pokémon, shaped like a heart soar through the air, before falling into the water once more. It jumped once more, then another joined it. Before long, about ten pink, heart-shaped Pokémon were jumping out of the water.

Casey found his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon. "Luvdisc, the Rendezvous Pokémon" Casey's Pokédex read out. "Luvdisc group together during breeding season, covering the surface of the ocean in a brilliant pink. When two Luvdisc kiss, they can bond together and flutter like wings and it has been proven, that a Luvdisc can point in the direction of its mate, like a compass. Because its heart-shaped body is a symbol of love and romance, it is said that any couple meeting this Pokémon is promised a loving relationship that never ends."

"It sure is a beautiful sight" Casey said as he put away his Pokédex.

"How romantic" Mia said with a sigh. "Never ending love."

Flanked by the forest Pokémon and the Luvdisc in the lake, the group finished their dinner and went to an early sleep.

* * *

**Well, how was it? The rest of the Gym Leaders in Gawaro are being brought up to speed (off screen, I still feel it's a little early for a recap chapter - but only a little) and we are introduced to the first member of the Elite Four, the mysterious M. No, it has nothing to do with N, he simply didn't care enough about the Gym Leaders to give his full name (it's also to keep you guessing, but hush).**

**I feel like this chapter was fairly well balanced. We had some serious scenes with the Gym Leaders and some more relaxing ones with our favourite group of trainers (in Gawaro, there, you can't say anything now). While the Gym Leaders are told to keep an eye out for legends, our heroes watch a sunset over a lake of Luvdisc.**

**The only beef I have with this chapter is the title. It's... lackluster, at best. It's not really hitting the spot but it's there. Guess they can't all be great gems.**

**On a final note, I have 2 OC's planned for this arc, which will leave me with one left, so if anyone out there wants to join in, feel free to do so.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

Tynamo; Male; Nickname: n/a; type: Electric; Ability: Levitate; Current Moves: Tackle - Thunder Wave - Spark - Charge Beam

_Mia:_

Totodile; Female; Nickname: Jaws; Type: Water; Ability: Torrent; Current Moves: Bite - Water Gun - Ice Fang - Aqua Jet

Horsea; Female; Nickname: Equina; Type: Water; Ability: Sniper; Current Moves: BubbleBeam - SmokeScreen - Water Gun - Focus Energy


	19. Another one Bites the Sawsbuck

**Hi everyone and welcome back to the Gawaro Chronicles.**

**Some of you already know that I posted the first part of a side story last week. It's called 'The Diary of a Professor' and can be found through my profile.**

**But let's get to today's chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 19 – Another One Bites the Sawsbuck**

_Thursday the 22__nd__ of Silversun_

_10:12, Route 703_

"It looks like it will rain soon," Mia said as she looked up at the clouds. Casey and Tyson looked up and saw grey, heavy clouds covering the blue sky that had greeted them when they awoke. After having a quick breakfast they had broken camp and started on their way towards Relyb City once more. But the sunlight had soon disappeared behind a thin veil of clouds, which now covered the sky like a blanket.

"How much further is it to Relyb City?" Tyson asked as they trudged on.

"We should be there in a few hours," Casey said.

"Then let's not waste any time," Mia said. The boys agreed silently and they all walked just a little faster, hoping that time were on their side. A sudden gust of wind blew, chilling the group. It wasn't long until it started drizzling.

"I think we should seek out some shelter," Mia said. "It feels like it will only get worse from now."

"I agree," Casey replied loudly as the wind started to pick up. Casey looked around for a few seconds to take in the landscape and then said, "Let's head for that patch of forest." He pointed in the direction of the outskirts of a forest and the three teenagers ran towards it. They had barely dodged beneath the sheltering branches of the forest when the drizzle turned to a downpour.

"Just in the nick of time," Tyson said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"For once I agree with you," Mia said as she pressed herself up against a big oak tree, trying to get as much cover as possible. Tyson looked over at her and giggled.

"Don't tell me you don't like rain," Tyson said with a smile. "I mean, it's just water."

"Just because I'm a Water-type trainer, doesn't mean I have to like water," Mia retorted. "I mean, you're a hothead but at least you didn't try to set your hair on fire last night."

"Who are you calling a hothead?!" Tyson shouted.

"Calm down, you two," Casey said and turned to look at them. He had been observing the rain until now, trying to determine whether it would be a short shower or a lengthy downpour. "I think we should set up shelter for the time being, as it seems like it'll be going on for quite a while."

"Good idea" Mia said.

"Let's try and see if we can't find some large trees with plenty of cover and set up shelter there," Casey said and started walking further into the woods. Tyson was by his side in a heartbeat. Mia let go of her tree reluctantly and hurried after the boys.

* * *

_Thursday the 22__nd__ of Silversun_

_10:41, Route 703_

Fifteen minutes later the group had found the perfect spot to put up shelter. There were plenty of large trees with massive branches and cover. A small stream ran close by and a small clearing would have made for a perfect picnic spot, had it been sunny instead. For now, though, the teenagers stood beneath their makeshift marquise, watching the droplets, which made it through the canopy, fall slowly into a puddle.

"Rainy weather has its own sort of charm, doesn't it?" Mia said as she watched another drop fall, hugging herself for warmth. The boys didn't reply. Instead, they all just relaxed as the rain slowly subsided.

Suddenly, a single Pokémon burst through the underbrush and into the clearing. The Pokémon looked like a young deer. Its upper back was covered in green fur, dotted with yellow patches. It had large eyes and ears, with a yellow tuft of hair between the ears. The rest of the fur was cream-colored, with a green tail.

"What's that Pokémon?" Mia asked.

"It's called a Deerling," Tyson replied as he reached for his Pokédex.

"Deerling, the Season Pokémon," the red Pokédex read aloud. "When sensing confrontation, Deerling hides in the grass. Their scent and coloring changes according to the seasons and can be slightly affected by the temperature and humidity as well."

"We encountered a flock of them on our way to Pirepsah City," Tyson continued as he put the Pokédex away. "I tried to catch one then but it got away." Tyson found a Poké Ball and pushed the button, enlarging it. "Time to make up for that."

"Wait," Mia interrupted before Tyson could do anything. "You can't catch this one."

"Why not?" Tyson asked.

"It's injured, can't you tell?" Mia asked and pointed to the Deerling's flank. Tyson looked closer and saw that she was right. The Deerling was heavily wounded and was even bleeding from a few wounds on its flank. Not only that, but the deer-like Pokémon seemed to have suffered a series of powerful attacks and was panting heavily. "We have to help it somehow," Mia insisted.

"Then let me catch it and take it to a Pokémon Center," Tyson replied. "That way, Nurse Joy can help it and it will be all better."

"We can take it to a Pokémon Center without having to catch it first," Mia retorted.

"No we can't," Tyson shot back. "Do you have any idea as to how much a Deerling weights?"

"Do you?" Mia asked.

"No, but that's not the point" Tyson replied. "The point is that…"

"Casey, what are you doing?" Mia asked, interrupting Tyson. While the two had discussed what to do, Casey had found a small bag and left the shelter. He now approached the injured Pokémon, a small bag of Pokémon food in his hand.

"Hey there" Casey said softly, trying not to alarm the injured Pokémon. The Normal/Grass-type looked up at him verily, but succumbed to a set of shivers and fell over. Casey sat down beside it and took out a handful of Pokémon food. "Here you go," he said as he placed it in front of Deerling's mouth. "It's for you."

"Deer?" Deerling asked weakly, before sniffing the food. The scent seemed to appeal to it and it took a careful bite. Then another. Soon, all of the food was gone and Casey took out another handful.

"What happened to it?" Mia asked, as she and Tyson left the shelter. The rain had almost stopped by now and only the barest of remnants made it through the leafy canopy.

"Deling!" Deerling cried out in alarm.

"Don't worry," Casey said softly. "These are my friends," he said, gesturing at Mia and Tyson. The Deerling looked on edge for a couple of moments then relaxed visibly. "We just want to know what happened to you."

"Ling Deerling" Deerling started. "Leer Dling Dee."

"I really wish we understood what Pokémon were saying," Tyson sighed. "Maybe then we would actually get a useful response for a change."

"Were you attacked, Deerling?" Casey asked, ignoring his friend's remark. The Deerling nodded and nibbled at the food.

"Poor thing," Mia said, gently stroking its fur. "Whatever attacked it must have been vicious to leave such marks."

"Maybe we should…" Casey started.

"Let me guess; you want to go with it, track down whatever did this to it and beat it, right?" Tyson asked.

"You're right," Casey said.

"And you're wrong", Tyson said, earning him mixed looks from Mia and Casey. "Look, if something is vicious enough to leave those marks, it's probably too strong for us to take out."

"Why do you say that?" Casey asked. "We chased off that Excadrill in the Goma Passage. And even though it evolved way to prematurely, that Ursaring on our first day too."

"You beat an Ursaring?" Mia asked surprised.

"Yes, but…" Tyson started.

"So why shouldn't we be able to take this one on too?" Casey asked.

"Well, uh…" Tyson started. "Because, we uh…" He shot a quick glance over at Casey who looked back at him, confusion showing in his face. A quick look at Mia showed that she was mostly concerned with the Deerling and had already covered up the surprise of hearing them beating and Ursaring. Tyson sighed before giving up. "Never mind, let's go take it on."

"You hear that, Deerling?" Mia asked. "We're going to help you."

"Can you take us back to where you were attacked?" Casey asked. The Deerling nodded and tried to stand up, only to fall over. "Let's take care of your wounds first, okay?" Casey asked and started to apply bandages.

* * *

_Thursday the 22__nd__ of Silversun_

_11:23, Route 703_

The teenagers followed the Deerling into the forest for a while. The rain had stopped by now and the forest was slowly waking up again. A few Pidgey and Pidove flew by overhead and a group of Caterpie was found munching on leaves in the trees, preparing to evolve. The wood slowly became denser and denser as they walked, until the only trail was that of Pokémon. They noted that many of the low hanging branches were broken, indicating that the Deerling had fled this way at high speed. No wonder it had collapsed in the clearing earlier.

Finally, the trees started to let up and the group was presented with a wondrous sight. The trees were large and trunks thick, covered in a layer of moss. The leaves were a powerful green, which cast a delightful shadow into the meadow. A few large trees had fallen and now provided shelter to lots of Pokémon. But the scene was tarnished by an injured Pokémon, lying in the middle of the meadow. It resembled the Deerling, only it was larger and completely covered in brown fur. It had a pair of antlers, covered in green leaves so they resembled small trees. Like Deerling, it was covered in wounds and was breathing heavily.

"That looks like Deerling" Mia said in a whisper.

"I think that is the evolved form," Tyson said as he found his Pokédex once more.

"Sawsbuck, the Season Pokémon, and the evolved form of Deerling," the Pokédex explained. "The plants on Sawsbuck's horns change depending on the time of year, and people often use them to measure the passing of the seasons. Sawsbuck live in herds and the leaders of the herd possess magnificent horns."

"Deerling," Deerling cried and ran over to the Sawsbuck lying on the ground. The Sawsbuck barely opened its eyes, but seemed to smile when it saw the Deerling.

"Sawsbuck Saw Buck," it said slowly, forcing out every word.

"Deer Deerling!" Deerling replied, nuzzling the other Pokémon.

"Do you think that it is Deerling's parent?" Mia asked no one in particular.

"Seems likely," Casey said and started to move closer to the deer-like Pokémon. As he approached, followed by Mia and Tyson, the Sawsbuck started to growl but the Deerling reassured it, telling it that they were friendly. The Sawsbuck stopped growling and Casey started to examine the wounds on Sawsbuck. "They don't seem too serious," he said as he found a Potion in his bag. "Once I apply this, all you need is some rest." He sprayed the wounds with the Potion and rubbed it into the showing flesh. Sawsbuck grunted at the pain, but didn't move. As Casey was about to put bandages on Sawsbuck, he saw something yellow stuck in its fur. _What's this?_ he wondered as he pulled the yellow object out of the fur. He held it up before his eyes but all he could determine was that it was small, yellow and covered in fur.

"Jol?" came a sound and the yellow ball of fur uncurled. It was about the length of Casey's finger, with short legs all covered by the fur. It had two sets of eyes, two large and two smaller ones. Its eyes were blue, as were its feet.

"Hello there," Casey said as he studied the creature. "My name is Casey. Who are you?"

"Joltik?" the small yellow creature asked, looking confused at Casey.

Casey put the creature down on the ground and found his Pokédex. "Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon," his Pokédex read out. "Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch. Joltik that live in cities have learned a technique for sucking electricity from the outlets in houses."

"So, you're a Joltik?" Casey asked the little yellow creature.

"Tik, Joltik," the creature replied happily and jumped up and down.

"Nice to meet you," Casey said and extended his hand. Joltik looked at it for a second, then jumped and launched itself onto Casey's hand and bit down. "Ouch" Casey said as he felt a small sting.

"Got a new friend, Casey?" Tyson asked with a smile. "Just take where when you go to sleep. Don't let the bed-Joltik bite."

"Stop that" Mia said. "You can't make fun of something as cute as this." She leaned closer to the Joltik. "What a cute little one you are" she said and pushed herself closer. "You're so cute, I just want to hug you. And then…"

As she spoke, Mia continuously pushed herself closer to Joltik, until it became too much for it. "Jol…. TIK!" it shouted and unleashed a light electrical current. The shock ran through both Casey and Mia, who both fell down, paralyzed.

"Still think it's cute?" Tyson asked mockingly.

Just then, a loud rustle could be heard from above. The Deerling and Sawsbuck looked up immediately, trying to locate the sound. Soon, the entire canopy seemed to be rustling.

"What's going on?" asked Mia alarmed.

"Dee… Lingde!" the Deerling said weakly. The Sawsbuck tried to get back on its feet, but to no avail. It was still too weak.

"I think whatever attacked them before has come back," Casey said and tried to move. "It's no good," he grunted. "I can't move a muscle."

"Me neither" Mia said, as she too tried to fight the paralysis.

"Here they come!" Tyson shouted as something broke through the canopy and fell to the ground. The creature was a large and spider-like, being just over a meter in length. It was predominantly yellow, though it had blue tufts of fur near the behind, as well as blue feet. On its face were four small eyes and two larger ones and just below the eyes, two arm-like appendages sprouted. "What is that thing?!" Tyson exclaimed in shock as more and more of the spider-like creatures dropped to the earth.

"Galvantula, the EleSpider Pokémon and the evolved form of Joltik," his Pokédex read out. "It creates barriers from electrified silk that stun foes. This works as a weapon as well as a defense. While their prey is immobilized by shock, they leisurely consume it."

"It looks pretty hungry, guys," Tyson called as he put away his Pokédex.

"Galva Galtula" the lead Galvantula said.

"Buck Sawsbuck Sas" the injured Sawsbuck replied.

"Galvantula Galtu."

"Sawsbuck!"

"Gal!" The lead Galvantula turned around, signaled to its followers and then shouted, "Tula!" Before Tyson knew what was happening, the lead Galvantula was rapidly approaching the downed Sawsbuck. With a quick flick of its head, Sawsbuck sent the young Deerling off to the side, getting it out of harm's way. With the Galvantula still on its way, Sawsbuck managed to stagger to its feet. It quickly began charging energy in its antlers, which took the form of a green ball of energy. It fired the Energy Ball straight at Galvantula, which dodged to the side and evaded the attack.

The spider-like Pokémon was now close enough to counter attack and jumped at Sawsbuck, its mouth open and a fierce look in its eyes. Sawsbuck tried to knock it away with its antlers but was too late. The Galvantula made contact and sank its teeth into Sawsbuck's flank, causing both parent and child to shriek.

"We have to do something!" Mia shouted, struggling to free herself.

"I'm trying" Casey grunted as he was slowly regaining control of his fingers.

"Guess it's up to me for now, then" Tyson said. "Corona, Clamper, Lieel, let's do this!" As he called out the names of his Pokémon, he threw their Poké Balls and all of them joined his side. "Clamper, use Peck on that leading Galvantula!"

"Karra!" his Karrablast replied and sprang into action. It quickly closed in on the Galvantula and jumped. White energy built up around its mouth and as it craned back its head, a white energy beak started to form. With a swift motion, Clamper hurled itself forward and slammed into the Galvantula. The opponent barely seemed to feel the attack, but it did let go of the Sawsbuck and focused on the new threat.

"Now, Corona. Follow it up with Flame Burst!" Tyson called.

"Torchic!" Corona replied and took a deep breath, before unleashing a ball of fire, aimed straight at Galvantula.

"Tula!" the Galvantula replied and yellow streaks of electricity started crackling around its body. They quickly gathered in a sphere near its arms, before flinging the ball into the Flame Burst, scattering it harmlessly.

_So much for plan A_, Tyson thought as the Galvantula started to run towards him. "Okay, new tactics. Lieel, use Charge Beam!"

"Namo," Tyson's Tynamo yawned, but didn't do anything.

_Right, _Lieel_ still doesn't listen to me,_ Tyson thought, wanting to hit himself.

"Galvantula!" the spider-like Pokémon cried and spat out an electrically charged web, heading straight towards them.

"Corona, Ember!" Tyson called instantly and his Torchic obeyed, firing a soft cloud of embers at the incoming web, burning it up. "Alright, now all at once. Corona, Flame Burst. Clamper, follow up with Fury Cutter. Lieel, hit it with Charge Beam afterwards!"

"Chic!" Corona said and once more took a deep breath, only to release a ball of fire. This time, Galvantula had no time to dodge or counter and the attack was an instant hit, severely hurting the Bug/Electric-type Pokémon.

"Blaka!" Clamper shouted as it ran towards the Galvantula, which had been sent flying by the previous attack. Despite its short legs, Clamper managed to catch up to its opponent and gave it a Fury Cutter in the form of an uppercut, sending Galvantula rocketing towards the sky.

"Now, Lieel, use Charge Beam!" Tyson called.

"Ty," Lieel simply replied but didn't do anything.

_Why won't Lieel listen?_ Casey wondered, as he watched the battle unfold. From up high, the Galvantula prepared another Electro Ball, while Tyson ordered Torchic to counter with Flame Burst. The two attacks collided, sending sparks and embers everywhere. One of the sparks hit Tynamo, which seemed to liven up a little. _Wait a minute_, Casey thought. _Maybe it's not that Lieel won't listen…_ He looked at the Joltik, which was still seated on his hand. The little fellow seemed pleased with nuzzling against him and Casey was reminded of its Pokédex entry. _Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch. _"Joltik," Casey said and immediately had the attention of the small Bug-type on his hand. "I want you to use your stored electricity and transfer it to Lieel over there. Can you do that?"

"Tik?" Joltik said, cocking its head. "Joltik Tik!" it then said, smiling and nodding. The little bug jumped off of Casey and scurried over to Lieel and jumped on to it.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Tyson asked bewildered, as he had been to focused on the battle to listen out for Casey.

"Jolt!" Joltik said with a smile, before surrounding itself and Lieel with a blue light. It only lasted for a second or two before Joltik jumped off and returned to Casey's side. Lieel, however, had a much more serious expression and seemed more pumped up.

"I don't know what happened, but let's roll with it!" Tyson said. "Lieel, use Charge Beam. Corona, use Flame Burst!"

"Torchic!" Corona replied and sucked in air, only to shoot out a fire ball right away.

"Tynamo!" Lieel said and electricity immediately started crackling around it. Then, the lightning shot out in a jagged beam towards Galvantula. Both attacks hit their mark at the same time and sparks and embers flew everywhere. The Galvantula fell to the ground, defeated.

"It's a good thing it rained earlier," Tyson said with a sigh of relief.

"Galvan Tugal Tula," the remaining Galvantula shouted and started to slowly advance on Tyson and his Pokémon.

"Uh oh, I think we're trouble now guys," he said as he and his Pokémon slowly backed towards the others.

"I don't think so," Casey replied. "Look!" Tyson turned around and saw what Casey had been hinting at. A large group of Deerling and Sawsbuck were emerging into the glade, ready to defend their fallen comrade.

"Sawsbuck…. Buck," the injured Sawsbuck said.

"Saws SawBuck Baws," the leading Sawsbuck replied. Then, with a flick of its head, all of the Sawsbuck and Deerling charged the incoming Galvantula. The spider-like Pokémon panicked and turned to flee, barely remembering to bring their fallen leader.

* * *

_Thursday the 22__nd__ of Silversun_

_11:50, Route 703_

After the Sawsbuck had appeared and chased away the Galvantula, Casey had tried to explain what happened and that their comrade needed to rest. In return, the Sawsbuck had given the teenagers a ride back to their shelter, which they had then dismantled. Now, they were making their way out of the forest, back to the road towards Relyb City.

"Man, that was close," Tyson said as he finally calmed down.

"You and your Pokémon did pretty well, though," Casey said, complimenting his friend.

"You think?" Tyson said, beaming with pride.

"Just too bad you couldn't have done it without that Joltik," Mia said, unable to resist the urge to tease Tyson. "And if it hadn't been for those other Sawsbuck, you would have been toast."

"Sorry, I'm not biting," Tyson said, almost dignified. "I'm in a way to good mood to let you ruin it with your mocking. By the way, just what did that Joltik do?"

"It charged your Tynamo's batteries, so to speak," Casey explained. "I remembered that Joltik suck electricity and store it within their bodies and that a lone Tynamo is too weak to generate a lot of electricity. So I figured that if Joltik had been sitting on Sawsbuck and then me, it must have been pretty full. And I noticed that one of the earlier sparks seemed to power up Tynamo, even if just a little. So I figured that Joltik might be able to charge Tynamo's batteries. And I was right."

"Well, what do you know," Tyson said, deep in thought. "Then, what happened to it after the battle?"

"Joltik!" a small voice said and Joltik popped out of Casey's hair and hopped down on his hand, where is with a grin attached itself.

"It seems like he wants to come along," Mia said.

"What do you say, Joltik?" Casey asked his yellow, furry friend.

"Ti!" it smiled. Casey found a Poké Ball and gently tapped the Joltik, which went inside and was caught right away.

"Welcome to the team, Tjoule" Casey said as the group continued their walk towards Relyb City, with another friend at their side.

* * *

**So what did you think? I had to rework part of it a few times before I was pleased with the result. I finally settled on Tynamo's nickname, Lieel. Lightning Eel, for those who hadn't caught it yet. And Casey got a friendly little Joltik named Tjoule, which is a wordplay on Joule, the current-measurement.**

**On a more serious note, I underwent jaw-surgery last Friday and I'm still recovering, so I don't know if there will be a chapter out next week or not. It took a lot more out of me than I expected, so who knows?**

**As always, share your thoughts, feelings and what not. Tell your friends, family and your friends family. See you all next time.**

**Party listing:**

_Casey:_

Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Razor Leaf - Seed Bomb - Absorb

Corphish; Male; Nickname: Ruffer; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Leer - Harden - Bubble

Joltik; Female; Nickname: Tjoule; Type: Bug/Electric; Ability: Compoundeyes; Current Moves: Spider Web - Thunder Wave - Screech - Electroweb

_Tyson:_

Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Peck - Growl - Flame Burst - Ember

Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure - Fury Cutter

Tynamo; Male; Nickname: Lieel; type: Electric; Ability: Levitate; Current Moves: Tackle - Thunder Wave - Spark - Charge Beam

_Mia:_

Totodile; Female; Nickname: Jaws; Type: Water; Ability: Torrent; Current Moves: Bite - Water Gun - Ice Fang - Aqua Jet

Horsea; Female; Nickname: Equina; Type: Water; Ability: Sniper; Current Moves: BubbleBeam - SmokeScreen - Water Gun - Focus Energy


End file.
